Black Lace
by tce13
Summary: Going to Georgetown was a lot different than Blackthorne. For one, there were girls and his roommate was already going girl crazy. He didn't understand the craze, none of them had really impressed him yet. But maybe if he did, that would change. Zach's POV of Dirty Laundry. I do not own the Gallagher Girl characters.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Zach's POV, here we go! If you're following from Dirty Laundry, welcome back! This does start completely from the beginning, so if you are new you aren't missing anything. Enjoy the first chapter!**

Chapter 1

Whoever said college was going to be a nonstop party must not have actually taken classes. My days were pretty much full between a full course load, off-season for soccer and actually trying to have a relaxing social life. Even if I focused completely on these things there's still the part where you have to take care of yourself. Lucky for me, I have mastered these skills pretty well, but that kind of stuff happens when you've been cooking and doing laundry since you were almost nine.

You would think after ten years of doing this, I would know not to wait until I am out of socks to do laundry, especially when your only options for laundry are the ones on the first floor that is always crowded. But I didn't think about that, I guess mostly because I was trying to get a little ahead in my psych class.

After that sudden realization that I wouldn't have any socks to run in the next morning, I started the laundry but quickly got distracted by some homework. When I looked at the clock I kicked myself the whole way to the laundry room. It was already eleven and my washer stopped almost forty minutes before. Now if I didn't get a washer, I would be up after midnight and would be exhausted for the run in the morning.

I instantly saw a dryer with the door open and ran to pull my clothes out of the washer and push them into the dryer. There was only one problem with my plan; there were already clothes in it. I weighed my options. I could wait for the next dryer to open up in 15 minutes, or I could pull their clothes out and get started. It wasn't running after all and they must know it's a war zone in here. A split second later I dropped my clothes onto the dryer next to it and started taking the poor chumps clothes out. I got two handfuls in before a shout echoed into the tumbler.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" I was already cursing into the dryer. The voice was definitely female and furious. Yep this was the poor chump that I was evicting from this dryer. I grabbed one more handful before extending out of the dryer.

"Uhm laundry?" It should have been obvious. This was the laundry room after all.

"That's my dryer! And my clothes!" I looked down at the bundle in my hand and saw a black lace bra. I tried connecting this with the girl in front of me. She was cute with an athletic frame, and seeing her furious with a little crinkle in the middle of her face made her even cuter. But I wouldn't see her as a type of girl that wears black lace.

"Really? I don't see you as a black lace type of girl." She blushed instantly and I couldn't help but smirk at her discomfort. Her small arm snapped the bra from my hands and she threw it back into the dryer while yelling, "I waited for the dryer! It's mine."

Okay, so it was kind of a dirty move but I had my reasons.

"Unless it's running, it's fair game." I matched her bra with a pair of my shorts. She stepped closer and I knew she wasn't backing down. Her eyes were hardened but I saw they softened for just a second as her eyes flicked up and down quickly. But just that quickly she was back to the crease between her eyebrows and reached around me to throw another pile that I had just taken out. She was feisty, and I admired her determination but I wasn't going to quit either. So throw for throw we went until I knew it wasn't going to work.

"Look," I didn't want to call her lady or whatever, she needed a nickname. I glanced at her shirt hoping for some type of connection and I saw across her chest the words 'Gallagher Track' and I knew I had it. "Gallagher Girl. I could do this all day but the dryer is going to get full and then it's not going to work. So if you could just take your clothes out and wait for another dryer that would be great." She crossed her arms, trying to stand her ground.

"No way! I waited for this dryer fair and square. If anyone is waiting it's you." She definitely had a bite to her words, but I couldn't see any follow through. Maybe that's why I felt confident enough to start taking her clothes out. I glanced up at her briefly to see her smug grin on her face and she put a quarter in, but after about the third handful it morphed into complete panic.

"Stop!" I couldn't put up with this any longer.

"I can't wait. I have practice starting at 5 am tomorrow and if I have to wait then it will be well after midnight before this is all done." I shut the door after the rest of my clothes were loaded in and put in the other five quarters to get it started. She was still standing there with her jaw slack, so I made my escape.

"You owe me a quarter then!" All the anger was still radiating off of her so I smirked and flipped my extra quarter at her. She caught it with eyes blazing.

"See you in an hour." I heard her groan in frustration as I shut the door and I couldn't help but laugh. I really got under this girl's skin and it was kind of fun.

When I made it to my room all three of my roommates were still playing video games in the living room.

"Zach! You ready for some Rocket League? Grant could use the help." Grant hit Nick over the head.

"Sure, but only for a little. I have to get my clothes from the dryer." I settled onto the floor and grabbed the last controller.

"Damn. I need to do some laundry." Grant sighed. I was already laughing.

"Yeah, good luck going now."

"Why? Is it really crowded or something?"

"Yeah. You could say that. Washers are easy to find but I had to fight this girl for the dryer." Grant stopped playing and Lucas stole the ball from him, he shook his head but still looked over at me.

"Was she hot?" After Lucas scored he stopped too to hear the answer.

She was pretty athletic and had nice eyes when they weren't all fired up. And I liked how she didn't back down. It was hard to get a real impression, so I shrugged.

"She was cute. Pretty feisty too." Now Nick stopped playing too. Some how I had drawn all of their attention. I couldn't get their attention when I needed their opinion for a short research paper, but now I half expected them to start taking notes and ask me to draw a sketch.

"Woah, wait a minute. Does Zach like this girl?" I rolled my eyes.

"Come on guys. Get real. The only interaction I had with her was her trying to take back her dryer. It was cute how mad she got but that doesn't mean I like her."

"You stole her dryer? Dude that's low. She'll never like you." I raised my eyebrows.

"I don't need her to like me. Besides the dryer wasn't running, it was fair game."

"What did she do?"

"She started yelling at me and threw some of her clothes back in."

Grant was still staring wide eyed. "Well I want to see this girl."

"She'll probably still be in there when I go get it. You can go with me." Grant nodded.

"Yeah, I should probably go with you for protection. I mean if she's really that mad at you then you need some man power to keep her away." I poked his bicep.

"Yeah, I think I need a little more man power." He elbowed me in the side and I winced.

"Well I'll go with you too, Zachy." Nick stopped playing and looked at Grant and Lucas.

"Could you guys be anymore desperate?" They both looked shocked and I tried to contain my laugh. Nick turned back to the game, "Seriously, just say you want to see the cute girl." They were both stunned. If they were dogs they would both be licking their wounds right now.

We went back to the normal game banter until Nick looked at his phone.

"Well if you guys want to see a pretty girl, now is the time. I think your laundry is done." I put my controller away and the guys looked like they were debating to go with me. Finally Grant stood up and put his controller away but Lucas stayed put.

"You want to come Lucas?" He shook his head and got back into the game.

"Suit yourself." Grant was walking faster than normal down to the laundry room. I guess it was a pretty big deal for guys that went to an all-boys high school. Sure some of the guys had the chance to have girlfriends in town, but Grant never tried. Since we got into college his head has been spinning at the thought of actually talking to girls. He did okay with the ones he wasn't interested in, but he froze up at the thought of talking to a pretty girl he liked. I don't know what the big deal is. They're just people. I guess you could say it comes naturally for me.

I looked around the laundry room, but only a tiny blonde girl was in there sitting on the counter. She kind of looked like a fairy in that light blue top, except she had books. Lots and lots of books. She looked up from her notes for a second gave a smile and then quickly went back to studying. Grant came up next to me.

"Is that her? She's… cute," he whispered. He was probably trying to envision this girl getting all fired up, but I'm betting the only thing she would get fired up about is getting an 89 on a test. I shook my head subtly, as not to draw attention to us. Grant slumped against the dryer next to me. I unloaded my laundry a little slower than normal, kind of hoping that Gallagher Girl would show up again. But the door stayed closed.

"Maybe you'll see her again." Grant sounded sympathetic but I wasn't sure why. I had talked to her once, and she already hated me. I don't think she would ever want to run into me again. I wouldn't be counting down the days either.

"It's not like I'm in love with her, Grant. She was just… interesting." Grant looked me up and down but let me push through the door anyway. Nick looked at us and had a smirk on his face.

"So did you see the pretty girl? Are you in love?" I gave a half laugh.

"Well we did see a girl. She kind of looked like a fairy. And no, I'm not in love."

"Sorry mates. You will all get a girl some day." Grant snorted behind me.

"And be as happy as you? I'm just fine being single. I don't need that kind of drama." I saw Nick bristle but he didn't want to start a fight. It was a sore topic around here.

I walked away before Nick or Grant could say anything else. Luckily Grant followed and leaned onto his pillows.

"Do you ever think we're behind since we went to Blackthorne?"

"No I think the academics were more challenging there." He sighed.

"That's not what I mean. I mean with girls. What makes Nick stay with Annie when they fight constantly?"

"I don't know. I think that he's really in love and you don't give up on it when you have it." He put his arms behind his head and looked at the ceiling.

"I don't know if I'll ever feel that." Alright, now he was being ridiculous.

"What about that girl in orientation?" He laughed.

"That girl would eat me up and spit me out before I even had the chance to talk to her. Even then there's no way I would be able to get through a full sentence."

"You don't have any problems talking to Eden across the hall. You can talk to the girl." He gave me a pointed look.

"Eden's different. I'm not interested in her." He was silent for a few more seconds before sitting up and looking at me square on. "Why don't you have a problem with talking to girls?"

I smirked at him, "Because I don't talk to them expecting anything out of it."

"You think you're ever going to see that girl again?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. We've been here over a month and this is the first time I've seen her. I'm not putting too much pressure on the fates to see her anyway."

"But what if you do?"

"Then I'll duck when she tries to hit me."

 **I'm so excited for this story! I'm hoping to update once a week (maybe on Wednesdays). So far I have two more chapters written but I need to go back and do some editing. Show some love and review! Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! Thank you so much! I am so glad you guys like it so far and I will try to keep it up. I know you all have high expectations for it. So just like in Dirty Laundry, Cammie won't make an experience for another couple of chapters but you get more background of this group of guys that we all love. I hope you guys love how I portray Grant in this story! Thanks again and see ya next Wednesday.**

Chapter 2

The next day I had just about had it. Practice wasn't great. I mean I was good at soccer but I wasn't fast enough yet. I had to find a way to get my speed and distance up, or I wasn't going to make the team. And if I didn't make the team, my scholarship would be revoked. And if my scholarship were revoked, I would be going back to Maine and having to figure out what the hell I was doing with my life.

I couldn't go back to Maine, so I made sure to study to keep my GPA up and I would have to workout more.

Of course that was only half the reason I had had it today. Lucas still kept teasing me about the laundry room girl, even though I hadn't thought about her at all until he mentioned her. Really, I hadn't. And then I was brought back to my conversation with Grant once we got into orientation.

Grant was googly eyeing the girl in front of us, like he had been for three classes now. I nudged his with my elbow.

"Why don't you just talk to her?" He gritted his teeth.

"What would I even say? She would eat me alive."

"I don't know. Maybe start with 'hey'." He shook his head and the professor started lecturing, but I couldn't concentrate with Grant staring at her. I had had it. He was never going to fall in love with anyone if he couldn't even talk to a girl. He needed practice and she was a good one to start with. So I did what any reasonable man would do; I threw a pencil at her.

She jumped and then turned around staring daggers at me. Grant looked like he was about to lose it.

"Sorry about that. This is my friend Grant. He's been staring at you all class because he thinks you're pretty and really likes you." Her glare faded and she started to smile and looked over at Grant. Unfortunately Grant was covering his face with his hands. I stepped on his foot and he eventually lowered his hands, but he was red as a tomato. He glared at me but finally looked at the girl.

"Hi. I'm Grant." The girl smiled and extended her hand.

"I'm Bex." He swallowed hard, but I was rooting for him.

"Wow, you're British."

"I am."

"You have a beautiful voice." I could have sworn she blushed.

"Hey Bex, would you like to walk around with my friend after class?" Grant was holding his breath next to me but Bex looked between us, trying to figure out why I was asking her out for Grant.

"Uhm. Yes, I think I would."

"Great. It's a date." She smiled and turned back forward but Grant was white as paper now.

"I have a date?"

"Yes you do. You're welcome." He grabbed my collar and pulled me forward.

"I don't know what to do on a date." I grabbed his hand to release my shirt.

"This is good practice for you. Just talk to her." He nodded and started to relax a little.

"Just talk. Okay."

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After Grant and Bex split, I headed straight for the soccer field. I needed to get started right away. Fridays were always weight days, and not to brag but I was okay with weights. I needed a little more speed.

I went to my locker and changed, grabbing my cleats on the way out. I was half way through stretching when a shadow stretched out behind me.

"I didn't know we were starting two a days already." The figure sat next to me, and I saw it was Ethan. He was a senior and should be team captain, but he doesn't want it. So instead he encourages all of us in the background.

"They haven't yet. I just needed to work a little more."

"Work on what? You have some of the best defense I've ever seen." I exhaled and finished flexing my feet.

"Yeah but Will smoked me today. That's not going to keep me on the team."

"I've got news for you Goode. Will smokes everyone." That might be true, but I still needed to push harder. So I just walked to the goal line and went through the first sprints circuit.

"Well I'll give you one hint. You're not speeding up soon enough."

"I thought you speed up once you hit the ten." Ethan laughed and shook his head.

"Well that's what it's supposed to be, but what coach really wants to see is you're going full out by the ten. And then you don't slow down until you hit the thirty. That's why so many were ahead of you today."

I did one the way Ethan said and I did feel like I got more out of it. It's hard to tell how that compares to everyone else. So Ethan stretched a little and stood next to me.

"Alright, now for a little competition." I looked at his normal Nikes and khaki shorts. I already had an advantage, but Ethan was still pretty fast. When he started us he had the lead for about five yards before I passed him up. By the time we got to the end he was almost ten yards behind me.

"Keep working if you want, but don't wear yourself out. We have weights tomorrow." He grabbed his backpack from the sidelines and I had to wonder what brought him to the field.

"What are you doing on the field if you weren't planning on working out?" He pointed off to the next field where the girl's team practiced in the afternoon.

"My girlfriend Rachel is on the girls team. They're about to be out of practice."

"Must be nice," I mumbled under my breath.

"I could introduce you to some of the girls if you want. We get pretty close to the team anyway." In just 24 hours my life had been filled with girl talk. I didn't think I needed anymore.

"Not today. Maybe later though." He cocked an eyebrow at me.

"You have a girlfriend or something?"

"No. I just don't think I want the distraction that comes along with it right now." He laughed and rocked on his heels.

"You know sometimes they're a good distraction. Keeps us from working ourselves into the ground."

"I like the taste of dirt." I took a swig from my water bottle and Ethan leaned over toward me.

"There are better tasting things in life. Maybe try it out sometime."

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I tried to take Ethan's advice and take a break, but I still did three more sprint circuits before heading back. It was dinner time anyway and Grant wanted to order pizza tonight so he could study with Nick for their literature quiz. But when I walked through the door, only Nick was studying, Lucas was still playing Rocket League and there was no pizza in sight.

"Where's the pizza?" Nick looked up from his notes to glare at me.

"That's what I would like to know. Grant was supposed to order it once he got out of class. And now he won't answer his phone." I looked at the time. We had gotten out of class almost two hours ago and he still wasn't back. And now I was either going to be really impressed or terrified for my friend's safety.

"He started talking to that girl he's been crushing on for weeks and I guess he's still out with her." Nick slammed his book down, not out of anger but out of shock.

"Wait, Grant actually talked to a girl? And he's still out with her?"

"Yeah. It's possible she killed him though. She did have that 'I'll slit your throat if you annoy me' look."

"Should we start looking for his body or just order the pizza?" I shrugged.

"Well either way we're probably better off ordering it." Lucas put the controller down and started dialing. Moments later the door opened and in walked Grant with a goofy grin on his face. Nick rushed toward him and tackled him in a bear hug.

"Thank goodness you're alive. I was starting to think the freaky chick killed you." He stood there in a daze still.

Nick waved his hand in front of his face, "Hello, earth to Grant. Come in Grant." He shook his head but still kept the smile on his face.

"Hey guys."

"Dude, what happened to you?" He grinned showing a lot of teeth.

"Bex is amazing. She's really cool and exotic and beautiful. I think she's my dream girl." What has gotten into him? Was this what girls did to a guy? He was blabbering on and on about how she was confident and had the best laugh. What her plans were at Georgetown and what she majored in. It was a little hard to believe that he found out all of these details from just two hours.

Nick took a break from his notes and stretched out on the couch.

"Did you get her number?"

"Yes I did. I'm going to call her."

"No!" Both Nick and Lucas dove towards Grant's phone. He stood there dumbfounded.

"What?" Lucas laughed in disbelief.

"You can't call her. You just saw her. You have to wait at least a day." Grant frowned.

"But I want to talk to her."

"Not tonight. You just spent two hours with her. You're going to scare her off," Lucas sounded like he was the leading expert in communication and I wouldn't put it past him. He was a marketing major.

Nick nodded In agreement. "Wait until tomorrow and then you can set up a date."

"You have other things to worry about right now." I tried to contribute the most I could to this conversation. I could at least be the voice of reason. That must have sent Nick and Lucas back into their tasks before Grant came in. Lucas finished ordering the pizza and Nick flipped open his notes again.

"Yeah, we need to study for this quiz." Grant sighed and sank down onto the couch looking at Nick flipping through the pages.

"And you start rush week tomorrow. You need to get ready for that."

"Shit. You're right." Then another look of realization crossed his face. "What if I don't get to see Bex at all during rush week?" I groaned under my breath. I was glad to see Grant so happy, but it had only been two hours and he was already girl crazy. I needed a break.

"Tell me when the pizza's here."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So of course Zach's backstory is a little different in this one, but still troubled. This chapter delves into some of that past. Enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 3

"Why do you always wake up so early?" Grant's voice was muffled from the pillow but I knew he was awake too.

"I could ask the same for you." He lifted his head and propped up on the pillow.

"It's the beginning of rush week and Bex was texting me early this morning. She looks pretty."

"Are you nervous?"

"No way. I'm a legacy, so I'm pretty much a shoe in." I tried not to grimace at the word legacy. Of course I didn't hate Grant for having a great family, or a dad. They took me in time and time again when my family was nonexistent. I loved them, really. But Grant was already all but initiated into a frat because his dad was in the same one. He already had connections in his major field because of his mom. All I had was a question mark over my guardian situation. I would never know a life where things were just handed to you. I worked tooth and nail for everything I've ever had. Including my admission to Blackthorne.

"Don't go printing your t-shirt just yet. You might decide you want to get into another frat." He shrugged.

"Yeah. I kind of feel like I'm tied to Sigma Chi though. My dad expects it and they've already started talking to me." And that's when I knew the burden of being a legacy. Expectations. It wouldn't matter what Grant wanted. He had very little free will in his decision this week. If he chose another frat, I'm sure they would understand but it was the unspoken agreement between them.

I laced up my running shoes, ready to contemplate what expectations were already over my head, but Grant was still studying me.

"You never answered my question. Why do you always wake up so early?"

"I always did at Blackthorne. You know that." He snorted.

"Yeah I did too, but now I've broken that routine."

"Old habits die hard. And I still have morning practices. Might as well take advantage of my early riser habits to do my workouts in the morning." Grant must have been satisfied with that answer, even if it was only half the truth. He turned back to his phone.

"You know, you could take a break sometimes. Saturday is supposed to be for relaxing, not waking up at 6:30." I knew things were different now. Waking up early held a different purpose now, but it was already part of my instincts and I couldn't turn it off if I tried. So I faked a smile.

"That's what Saturday nights are for. Are you going to Chance's with us?" Grant sighed.

"No. First night of rush usually goes on for a while." He had been talking about rushing since we got to Georgetown, but now he looked like it was a burden. He forced a smile.

A strange thing happens when you've lived with someone for six years. You pick up on small signals that alerts you that something is wrong. Right then I knew that Grant wasn't letting on how he really felt.

So I paused by the door, "You don't always have to follow your legacy. You can always make your own." He gave me a small smile.

"Yeah. But sometimes it's easier than outrunning it."

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I was into mile five with about a mile and a half to go back to campus. On a Saturday morning campus was always pretty bare, but I still stuck to the outer ring. It was nice there on the path. No one to bother you, just me and my thoughts.

Lately those thoughts had been bringing me close to a breakdown. A never ending loop of I need to study, I need to workout, I have to make the team. And then back to I can't keep the scholarship if I don't have good grades. I can't keep the scholarship if I'm not on the team. I won't make the team if I'm not faster. I can't workout if I need to keep up my grades. And repeat.

All the thoughts were old news really. I've had them since the very first off season practice when five guys beat me in the hundred yard dash and the mile run. Now only three could, but I still felt like it wasn't good enough. Those were juniors and seniors who would already have their name engraved on their jersey. I was just a freshman, trying to make a name for myself. Trying to start my own legacy. So I tried to push harder.

My legs were starting to burn. I have never run this distance as fast as I was going. I knew a cramp would be coming on pretty soon, but I would try to power through it. One mile left. So I turned up my music and tried not to think about the impending pain. But that just meant my brain decided to choose something else to think about.

 _There was yelling. A lot of yelling. I crouched down against the door and put my hands over my ears to drown it out, but it was still there._

 _"I knew it! I knew you would come crawling back after that hoe dumped you!" I heard the sound of a pan falling to the ground and rattling on the floor._

 _"Catherine. It's not like that."_

 _"Oh, it's not?" My mom's laugh was cold and cruel. There were sounds of more things being thrown._

 _I thought this would fix everything. I thought having Joe back would make her stop crying and come home at night. But it was worse. I felt my eyes start to burn and I had an intense amount of pressure in my head._

 _"Just say it Joe. You fucked up and you want me back. Well I don't think so!"_

 _"Catherine-"_

 _"You're filthy scum! And you still can't admit that you were cheating on me."_

 _"I never cheated on you." Joe's was strong and low, but my mom laughed again._

 _"Likely story. And now you've come crawling back. Well I don't want to see your face! I don't want you here!" I heard the sound of a sharp slap. I scurried to my feet and swung open the door. Joe had a hand to his cheek, but he didn't strike back. I was frozen in the doorway watching the scene; my mom with a crazy grin on her face, reaching up and slapping him again. And then again. I didn't think it was going to stop until Joe finally grabbed both of her wrists and shouted, "I'm not here for you!"_

 _She pulled her hands from his grasp with a huff and picked up a plate._

 _"Quit lying!" She flung the plate right on the ground between them and the pieces scattered all the way to my feet. I jumped and felt like I was going to choke on the sob in my throat. I let it out and Joe looked at me. He turned back to my mom and he had the scariest looking expression I had ever seen._

 _"I'm here for him." He pointed in my direction and mom finally looked at me. For a split second, she looked terrified, but that was gone. She laughed again and Joe made his way over to me. He kneeled in front of me and grasped my shoulders._

 _"Do you want to keep living here?" I looked over his shoulder at my mom who was now crying on the floor._

 _"Don't look at her. Your mother needs help, and I'm going to try to get it for her."  
"I-" the sob was still stuck in my throat, "I can help her." His eyes softened and he looked down at the ground._

 _"This isn't safe, Zach." The kitchen was a disaster. It had never been this bad, and I clung to the hope that it never would be._

 _"I can help her." I was her son. She would never hurt me like she did Joe. Joe sighed and looked at Catherine on the ground._

 _"I'm going to make arrangements. Until I can, I'll be over every day and we are going to go somewhere." I sniffled and wiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt._

 _"Get your shoes on. We're leaving for the rest of the day." I nodded and went back to my closet to grab shoes._

 _Joe was already sweeping up the broken glass while my mom rocked back and forth on the ground. I wanted to cry right then. It had never been this bad._

 _Joe walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder pushing me to the door. I looked back and mom cracked._

 _"Where are you taking him?" Her voice cracked and she started trembling. " You can't take my son! Zach, mommy's sorry. Please, don't take him from me! Don't take him-" Joe shut the door on my mom and I was glad for it. I had never seen her act this way. She was the only person in my life and it terrified me to see her crumble. I don't remember how long the drive to Boston was, but I know I cried the whole way._

A pain in my side tore me away from the memory. I wished I had a hard time breathing because of the cramp, but that memory always made my chest feel tight.

I hated it. I hated the way I acted. If I knew what I knew now, I never would have stayed. I would have gotten her help sooner. Maybe things could have been different, for everyone. 


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Alright, last chapter B.C. (before Cammie). I thought it would be interesting to see these guys at Chance's before having a girl in the mix, and if that messed up anything. I also really like Jonas and feel like he would be a slightly sarcastic little troublemaker sometimes. Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

"So who's sitting this game out?" There was an awkward look around our group, one that hadn't been there since the first week when we were all getting to know each other. We had a pretty set routine every Saturday. Around 8 pm we would take a couple of cars and head to Chance's to play some pool and watch whatever game might be playing. We always had six people, which made playing pool pretty easy. We all had a set partner for the first games and then we would switch around. Without Grant there, well things were off.

"Normally I play the first game with Nick and David would play with Grant." Jonas's eyes were skirting around the group to put in some type of data table in his head. Jonas was definitely the smartest of all of us and he always had a plan.

"Well we can mix it up a little. The odd man out can be the ref or get drinks."

David looked between Lucas and me, but Lucas was already looking at the bar. David handed off the stick to me.

"You're with me now. Lucas, go get us some drinks." Lucas gave a salute towards David and went to the bar. I respected David, but he definitely had a different style than Lucas. He was always serious and cursing when he missed a shot. Lucas wasn't, and maybe that's why we played together so well.

David was the first to break the stack and he already cussed for the first time tonight. I went to the opposite side of the table by Jonas.

"What's up with David?" Jonas pursed his lips, deciding on the best way to word his answer.

"He's under a lot of pressure for lacrosse right now. They just voted him team captain." If I had a drink I would have spit it out.

"As a freshman?" Jonas just shrugged.

"You've seen his leadership skills. And he's always been a great player. There are only four Juniors and Sophomores combined. The usual captain is out for the season and he decided there should be a younger person to keep the leadership. Some of the seniors aren't happy about it but it was a team vote."

I started looking at David in a new light. Yeah, he was competitive, sometimes a little too much for a bar game, but he always got us in the spirit. So I played to the best I could and David started to loosen up after a drink. Things were starting to feel like normal. Almost.

When the game ended we had to look at each other for a second before deciding who was playing. But it was an easy adjustment, and quite frankly it didn't matter who we played with. We never really kept score for long, just long enough to decide who was buying pizza that night.

It was my turn to sit out and drinks were getting low. The bar tender saw me walking toward him and already started preparing the drinks. By the time I got there he was already sliding my Dr. Pepper across the counter.

"Thanks Drew." I took a sip and the liquid was bitter in my mouth. I swallowed hard and Drew was trying his best to suppress a smile.

"What is this?"

"Diet Coke," he bust out laughing and went to get the Dr. Pepper.

"I've gotta have some fun back here. Grant used to like this game."

"Yeah, well Grant's not here tonight." Drew just shrugged behind the counter.

"You know who is here tonight?" I shook my head and looked around, but I didn't have to look for long because I already felt their eyes on me from the end of the bar.

"Are they regulars?"

"Not yet, but they've been here every Friday and Saturday for the past two weeks. And they've got eyes for you guys." I rolled my eyes and gathered my drinks.

"What? One looks like she likes you." He grinned and subtly pointed to a girl at the edge.

"No thanks."

"What's wrong with her? She's on the same level as some of the girls I've seen you hitting up."

"Yeah, I've had enough experience with girls like that." He smirked at me.

"Tired of making out with the same type of girls."

"Cut me some slack Drew. It was only three times. And they were all a mistake." He held his hands up defensively.

"Who says they were a mistake? You don't want a little girl attention?"

"I've already seen what a little girl attention is doing to Grant." Drew crossed his arms and smiled smugly.

"So he ditched you for a date."

"Not tonight. He ditched us for a bunch of frat guys. It's rush week. But he'll be back."

"Yeah. Of course." He didn't sound so convinced but I didn't have time to ask him what he meant. He was already walking towards the girls and the girl was still staring at me. I ducked my head and grabbed the bottle necks, making my escape as quiet as possible.

"Who's the girl?" Nick nodded over my shoulder and I glanced back. I guess my escape efforts weren't enough. A girl with almost white hair was leaning against the bar looking at me.

"I don't know. Drew said this group just started coming in."

"Looks like they like what they see," Lucas gave a small wave and smile at the girls. There were five of them, but only three didn't lose focus. They kept their attention on us and it was a little discomforting. I shrugged it off and turned to the table.

"I've got next game." Lucas didn't seem to mind. When their game ended he shoved the stick in my direction.

He took a swig from his beer and looked at the girls, "Wish me luck."

I didn't even have to look to know that he reached his destination; I heard the high-pitched giggles all the way across the room. Nick smirked at him.

"Looks like Lucas didn't waste any time."

I risked a glance and Lucas had a goofy grin on his face and the brunette was leaning in and laughing. Every second she got closer and Lucas suddenly looked in over his head. He took a long drink and plastered the grin back on his face. He looked at us and motioned for us to join him. David put his stick down.

"Where are you going?" He nodded towards them like it was obvious.

"Lucas looks like he could use some reinforcements and why shouldn't I go talk to some girls?" Jonas eyed him carefully.

"What about Katie?" David's brow grew hard.

"What about her? I don't even know if she likes me and maybe I could like one of those girls." He walked away and shortly Nick sighed and put his stick down too.

"Nick, you have a girlfriend. What are you doing?"

"Relax," he held his hands in the air, "I'm not stupid. And it's not a crime to go talk to a girl because my buddy needs some help. Seriously he's being cornered."

Jonas hung his head and I slumped my shoulders.

"Well, want to finish this game one on one?" Jonas looked at the table and I saw a mischievous grin cross his face.

"Zach, we both know I'm going to beat you. You're good, but I have better strategy."

I made a shot anyway, not really caring about who won. Between shots one of us would look over at our friends. Nick was talking with a girl but they seemed more concerned with their phones. That was good, but it still left four girls and three of them were around Lucas, laughing and lots of arm grazes. One of those girls kept looking in our direction.

"Looks like someone wants your attention." I didn't even look over.

"Yeah, well, she could probably get all the attention she wants here."

"You aren't going over there? It's been almost a month since you've hit on a girl." First Drew, now Jonas. I guess the observant ones would notice something has been off.

"No. I think I've learned from that." Jonas gave a half laugh and shook his head.

"What's wrong with us? Shouldn't we be wanting to go talk to pretty girls?" I had been asking myself that question a lot lately.  
"Yeah, but not that kind of pretty." Jonas crossed his arms and we turned away from the scene.

"Yeah but we went to an all-boys school. We should be eager to talk to any girl."

"Then why are you standing here?" Jonas scratched the back of his head. This might be the one question he didn't know the answer to.

"I don't know. I mean they're pretty but…" He looked genuinely confused, but I knew the feeling.

"They're not real." Jonas looked over at the girls, examining them with eyes of scientist.

"I don't know. They don't look like robots." I rolled my eyes.

"But they're not what we're looking for I guess." Jonas perked up and pointed at me.

"Exactly! You've solved it!" He exhaled and looked physically relieved. But then the confusion crossed his face again. "So what are we looking for?"

"I guess it's different from person to person. What do you want in a girl?"

Jonas closed his eyes and thought for a minute. "I don't know. I don't really care what she looks like. Maybe kind of short. But I just want some one to talk to and not zone out like you guys do."

"We do not-" He laughed and shook his head.

"I know you don't mean to, but it happens. I would just like some one to have those conversations with and understand my jokes." He looked off into the distance before turning to me, "What about you?"

"Uhm… I don't know." He leaned back and crossed his arms again.

"Okay. How about this, just answer the questions as quickly as you can. Tall or short?"

"Middle. Not too tall I guess but not too short." He nodded.

"Eye color?"

"Blue." The word was out of my mouth before I even really thought about it. I barely even paid attention to people's eye color unless I was around them a lot.

"Blonde or brunette?"

"Blonde."

"What about blondes?" The girl from earlier was coming around to our side of the table and leaned a hip against it. Jonas smirked at me.

"Zach was just saying he likes blondes." I wanted to hit him right now.

"Oh really. So do you like my hair?" She was twirling it around a finger and batting her eyelashes. I guess her hair was nice, but I didn't really know how to compliment her without flirting.

"Yeah. It's nice." She laughed and I looked at Jonas and he just shrugged.

"I like your hair too." She reached up to touch it and I moved away.

"So are we going to finish playing, Jonas?" Jonas looked like he was having a great time watching my discomfort.

"Ooh can I play?" She looked eager enough, so I handed her a stick.

"Do you know how to play?" Jonas raised an eyebrow at her. He didn't really like to mess around with newbies. She looked down at the table and I saw a blush from her.

"No. I was hoping to learn from watching you guys."

Okay, so I wasn't looking to make out with her but I did admire her confidence. It takes guts to approach some guys and volunteer to play a game you've never played before. So maybe I had a little sympathy for her.

"I'll teach you." She brightened up and hugged me. I instantly started to regret my decision. After kindly pushing her away I set up for a shot.

"Okay, so we're stripes and you have to hit the cue ball to try to get them in the pocket." I hit the ball and sent one of the stripes into the pocket.

"Why don't you try?" She moved around to the cue ball but wasn't really going for a good set up.

"Why don't you try to go for this one?" I put my hands on her shoulders and moved her around but she just turned to look at me.

"Wow, can't keep your hands off of me can you?" I jerked my hands away and shoved them in my pockets.

"Look, I'm not trying to do anything. I don't even know your name." She stuck her hand out to me.

"I'm Cady. With a 'D'." she squished her breasts together and I turned to look at Jonas. He was trying to conceal his laughter.

"Great meeting you. Now try to aim for the stripes in the corner." She was holding the stick all wrong but pushed her ass out as far as possible. Jonas walked around to stand next to me.

"Well I guess I forgot to ask that question. What cup size?" I shook my head.

"Your hand needs to be looser. Use this hand as a guide, don't grip it." I tried to move her hand but she just pressed up against me. I swallowed hard and tried not to snap. She tried to shoot and it went all over the place. I heard Jonas snort and cover his mouth.

"Alright, it was great meeting you Cady, but we are about to head out. Right Jonas?" Jonas composed himself and looked at his watch.

"Yeah, it's kind of late."

"But, I still don't know how to play." She was pouting but I just needed to get away.

"Yeah, maybe next time I'll teach you."

"Okay! Do you want my number?"

"Goodbye Cady." I grabbed Jonas's shoulder and we walked towards our friends.

"Nick, are you sober?" He looked down at his half drunk beer.

"I can be." I handed him the keys he usually gave me at the beginning of the night.

"Good. Me and Jonas are heading out early." Nick's eyes went wide.

"Take me with you." He was pleading with me but I looked at the wobbling Lucas and David finishing off his drink and ordering another.

"Nick, can they drive?" He looked at them and I could tell he knew the truth.

"Fine, but you owe me. I can't keep talking to this chick. She's having major boyfriend issues and honestly I side with him." I patted him on the back.

"I'll have pizza waiting for you when you get back." I was already by the door before he called, "It better be an extra large."

00000000000000000

Jonas let out a sigh of relief when we got into the car.

"Well that was interesting." I punched his arm.

"Why did you tell her I liked blondes?" Jonas was fighting off a smile.

"Well it's true. You just said you liked blondes with blue eyes and not too tall. She kind of checked all the boxes." If we were just going off of looks, yeah she did. But it still wasn't right.

"Yeah, I guess she did." Jonas looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"Then what was wrong?"

"It's more than just looks. You said so yourself."

"Alright, so you don't like blondes that play dumb and are constantly trying to touch you. Interesting." When he put it like that, I was starting to think something really was wrong with me. That's the typical guy type, but I didn't want that.

"I think I want a girl that is witty and can tease me. Not one that just laughs at everything I say and couldn't even be serious enough to learn how to play pool."

"Well I hope you find her."

 **And that's it for the last Cammie free chapter! And just an important life lesson for all of you girls: DO NOT DUMB YOURSELF DOWN FOR A BOY! Cammie did with Josh, and we saw how that turned out. Sorry but that is a big pet peeve of mine and I hope so many girls will stop doing this. The right one won't be intimidated. Thank you and good night!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you for all the love! I think I'm going to stick to updating on Wednesdays until I have a little more time. As promised, Cammie comes back this chapter and you get to see what was happening in Zach's head. Enjoy, and see you next Wednesday!**

Chapter 5

Grant was pulling on his shirt collar and fidgeting in the seat next to me.

"Do I look okay?" Jonas groaned from the front seat.

"If you ask that again I swear I am kicking you out of my car right now."

Grant's eyes went wide so he turned to me and whispered, "Really, do I look okay?"

"You look fine Grant. Just like all the other new pledges I'm sure."

"Yeah but Bex will be there. I need to make sure I look good." I rolled my head back.

"Grant, I'm gonna say this one more time. She already likes you. She changed seats to sit next to you in orientation. She hasn't talked to you all day and night like you want because both of you have been busy rushing. Now all that is over and you will get to have fun at the party. She likes you." He slumped in the seat again and kept checking his phone.

"Should I text her? Maybe send her a picture so she knows what I look like tonight?" Jonas groaned and snapped on him.

"Grant unless she has the memory of a damn goldfish, she knows what you look like. A change in clothes isn't going to change that." Grant looked at me again.

"What should I text?" Jonas threw his hands up in frustration.

"I give up. Zach, he's all yours." I tried not to smirk, but the whole scene was entertaining. Grant had been bugging me for a week about Bex, I had hoped this party would help change that.

"Grant, you know what to say now. I'm not helping you talk to her anymore." He nodded and started typing. A minute later he was smiling.

"What are you guys going to do?" I shrugged. I was hoping Grant would hang out with us for a while, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen.

"I don't know, it's a party. I'm sure we'll find something to do."

"Thanks for inviting us by the way." That was the first time Jonas sounded somewhat thankful about tonight. He wasn't very psyched to be going to a frat party, and now he was thanking him. I caught Jonas's eye in the mirror and he averted them.

"I don't want to see your little girlfriend so soon. What was her name? Cady with a 'd'" He shimmied forward in his seat and I rolled my head back again. Grant looked over at me and got really excited.

"Zach you have a girlfriend?"

"No. More like a girl that was very into flirting and wouldn't go away."

"Was she hot?"

"Physically she was completely Zach's type." Grant raised his eyebrows at me.

"You have a type?"

"I don't even know if I do. It was just a rapid fire game. That doesn't mean I'm going to like every girl that is blonde hair and blue eyed." Grant nodded and then had a cheeky grin.

"Does that mean you like me?" I shoved his face away from me.

"Yes Grant. My ideal woman looks exactly like you." The car came to a stop and Grant was taking his seatbelt off.

"Maybe she's in there tonight."

Looking at the girls pouring into the party, I highly doubted I would find a girl my type in there.

000000000000000000

It was way too hot inside the house. Nick. Lucas and Jonas finally arrived and they voiced my opinion right away.

"It's like 100 degrees in here. We need to get out." Lucas pointed towards a door that leads towards the back. We all shuffled our way through the crowd and felt almost instant relief. We could all walk around but there was still a small crowd forming around the pool. A girl dipped a foot in, but I saw the look on the guy's face. He took off running toward her and in an instant both went flying into the pool. The few around the pool laughed and soon more were jumping in. Jonas nudged my arm and pointed a little farther away to a pool table.

"Nice find, Jo Boy."

The five of us made our way to the pool table, but this new environment felt foreign to us. There were still four sticks, but not an official bar to get a pitcher from. We looked and concluded most of the drinks would be in the house.

"Who wants to get drinks?" Nick had a sour look on his face and he walked away without much of a word.

"I'll go with him." David pointed in the direction Nick was storming off toward. Lucas frowned.

"Do you want to go too?"

"No. I just think that's going to be trouble." He shook it off and grabbed a stick.

"Annie?" I guessed and the twitch in his jaw was answer enough.

"Jonas, can you make sure they get me a drink too. I think I need it." Jonas walked off leaving me with Lucas.

"She's pissed because she thinks he's lying about talking to that one girl. I tried helping and telling her nothing happened and he wanted to go home quicker, but then she just got mad. She was saying how he shouldn't be venting their private argument to some guy he just met." Lucas broke the stack hard. I had never seen him that worked up. Usually he was always grinning and carefree.

"You're not just some guy. I pick you to be my pool partner every time." The corners of his mouth lifted a little, but he still focused on the table.

"The whole thing just pisses me off though. He was telling the truth. I swear, he wasn't in any way flirting. But now…" he sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah I know. It's going to like a repeat of Labor day weekend." Lucas grimaced, but then shook his head.

"Whatever. They're both old enough to make their own decisions. If they want to stay in this long distance relationship, they need to handle it." He rolled his shoulders and started to loosen up. We were close to finishing the first game when I heard loud footsteps behind us.

Jonas came running back with a drink in his hand with a mixture of emotions on his face. Lucas took the drink and quickly drank half of it.

"What's up Jonas? You look like you've seen a ghost, but a good one."

"Do you want the good or bad first?" Lucas took another long swig.

"Bad first."

"Well, Nick found some shots. Off of a person. David pulled him away after two, but it's not a good start." Lucas hung his head.

"What about the good?"

"Grant found Bex and they both looked pretty star struck. They were heading toward the dance floor." Lucas grinned at that and we started a new game. Shortly after we were joined again by the rest of our group.

"David, quit being such a tight ass. Lighten up, everything's fine." Nick held a bottle up to David's lips and David took it reluctantly. Nick came toward us with two bottles in each hand.  
"Drinks for everyone!" He was already a little sloppy, but at least his mood had increased. We all shared a glance of concern, but we had to shake it off. It was necessary to have a good time at this party.

"So David, how's the season going?" Jonas started up a new conversation to lighten the mood. A few minutes later everyone was laughing a little and we were back to just playing pool. I was even winning, with just one shot to go.

"You boys have room for one more?" It was a distinctly female voice and no one was responding back. I finished my shot and noticed Lucas had slipped off his pool stick and most of them were wide mouth staring.

"Give me one more shot to finish-" I turned and was actually stunned for a second too. But not as stunned as she was.

"Hey Gallagher Girl." She looked different from the laundry room, but there was no mistaking her. I gave her a once over and had to smirk at her outfit. Definitely not what I was expecting.

"I guess I was wrong. You are a black lace kind of girl." I crossed my arms and leaned against the table. Sometime during the interaction, my friends regained their voices. They quietly snickered in the background while she was still staring wide eyed. But she snapped back into motion. Pulling the pool stick out from Lucas's grasp and uttering, "Are we playing or what, Blackthorne Boy?"

How the hell did she know I went to Blackthorne? Jonas voiced his approval by oohing and Lucas tried to stifle his laugh as he reset the table for the game that was about to happen.

So I had to ask, "How did you know about Blackthorne?"

She leaned over the table and looked at the cue ball with the eyes of an assassin. She broke the stack and three stripes went into the pockets. Lucas was still gawking and Nick was shaking his head in disbelief.

"When you stole my dryer, you left a shirt with my stack of clothes."

"So you stole my shirt. I was wondering where it went."

I knew I wasn't crazy. I had been looking for my old Blackthorne shirt all morning before my run. I thought Grant had taken it by mistake but now I had an answer, kind of. She had a lot of fire in her still, and I wanted to make it burn brighter. I sunk a solid into a pocket and smirked up at her. "You sure you didn't dig it out of my dryer?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes at me, "Now why would I want that?" I was already getting under her skin and it showed with her next shot.

"For the pleasure of my company of course." I was probably pushing it by being so close to her, but she let me know. In an instant she spun and pushed me back some with her pool stick.

"Listen _Goode_ ," She said my last name with so much venom. It was already bringing memories racing back. "I didn't steal your shirt. Now are you going to focus on the game or not?"

I forced the memories down and held out my hand in the small space between us.

"Call me Zach." She took my hand and shook it.

"Cammie." I saw a small smile play on her lips and I wanted to see how far I could push her limits.

"Well Gallagher Girl, lets see if they taught you how to play pool at that school of yours."

She gripped the stick tighter and shot the next shot harder than she probably expected. It knocked her stripe but also two of my solids in at the same time. I heard her curse under her breath. Lucas was next to her and he caught my eye, giving a wide smile. He mouthed to me, 'I like her'. I smirked and watched her set up, her brow was firm with the crinkle between them again. Maybe she could stick around.

"Nice shot, Cammie. Let me finish the introductions. Hi," Lucas leaned on the table next to her and stuck out his hand to shake, "I'm Lucas." She looked at him a little timid now, but shook it anyway.

"That's Nick, David and Jonas. Don't worry, as long as you remember me, you'll be fine." She laughed now and the crinkle went away when she shot again. Funny, her face had a different look when she was actually smiling. I couldn't stop staring at it.

Well, until I felt someone bump into me. I looked over at Jonas giving me a smirk. I shook him off and finished off the game. She didn't smile as much but there was still a fire behind her eyes.

"Good game, Zach."

"Not too bad yourself."

"I have an idea," Jonas was already getting the extra two sticks from the corner, "Let's go back to teams. Who wants to play with Cammie first?" Lucas raised both hands in the air. "Alright, Nick and David against Cammie and Lucas."

I sat back a little and watched, but of course Jonas had a plan for this.

"Lets see, blonde hair, looks like grey-blue eyes and a pretty middle height. You know, you never answered the question from a week ago. What about cup size?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Alright this is a kind of short chapter, but I promise the next one will be longer. Thank you guys for all the reviews! Enjoy!**

Chapter 6

It was a weird turn of events. Nick was in a better mood, we finally had six people again and Jonas was pestering me. Even so, we were having a lot of good games. And when Cammie wasn't playing, she was observing and talking to whoever else was sitting out. So far that had only been Nick and Jonas, but I could tell she was making a pretty good impression on every one. Except maybe David.

Sure, he liked the competition, but he was always very resistant to change. And now we were letting a girl play, that was a big change. So he put his wall up and did what he did best; shouting at people when they screwed up.

"Zach, get your head in the game! That was an easy shot!" To my defense, it wasn't that easy of a shot. I had to try to get around and ricochet off the siding to hit our ball and not theirs. Unfortunately the ricochet didn't happen.

I was going to shrug it off, but I couldn't exactly do that. Not when Cammie was on her toes next to my ear, whispering, "Yeah Zach, that was an easy shot". She meant it to mock David mostly but it still rattled me. So she wants to play it that way, huh. She was smirking at me and started cheering for Jonas. He just took one look, adjusted his angle and sank three balls in one shot. Cammie looked for the last shot that she had to make and I followed.

She froze for a second and I saw a muscle in her finger twitch. She took a deep breath and barely made it in.

"Yes!" She turned quickly and ran right into me. With her this close I got a good look at her. She had steel-grey eyes, probably from the grey top, if you would call it that. They were pretty big right now as they looked right into mine. She was biting the corner of her lip, probably a nervous habit.

"Good game Gallagher Girl. Best out of five?"

"Uhm, I think I'm going to get a drink." She swallowed hard and licked her lips. "We need to switch it up anyway." She side stepped around me and handed her stick off to Lucas. "You're up Lucas."

I handed mine to Nick and stood back watching her walk away.

"So what do you guys think about her so far?" Jonas was setting up the next game, but he was always a multi-tasker.

"She's great! Really funny. I say we keep her!" Nick was slurring his words slightly. His judgment was slightly impaired but he was always very honest when he was drunk.

"She's not a puppy, Nick." He laughed then turned to David.

"I don't know." That was better than I expected. I figured David would already be adamantly refusing to talk about her. But he was vague with his answer.

"I love her. She could be my soulmate." Lucas was staring off in the distance where she walked off to, and my gut wanted to tug me in that direction too. Jonas looked at me, waiting for my answer, but I'm sure he already knew it.

"Yeah. She's a good addition to the group. Gels right in." Jonas gave a decisive nod.

"Alright. We'll see how it goes the rest of the night. Zach do you want to see if she'll go get pizza with us?"

"Yeah, I'll let her know." I walked off toward where I saw her disappear. I figured I would have a few minutes before I found her, but I was wrong. She was standing stiff as a board next to the outdoor bar and tried to smile at the animated blonde. But her attention kept drifting to the boy and his was stuck firmly on his feet. She needed some help.

"Cammie!" I was already walking toward them before I knew what I was going to say, but first thing was taking that bottle from her. She was gripping it tight and starting to peel the label from the bottle.

"Hey Cam." I reached down and grabbed the bottle and her face was white. She looked panicked. "Fuzzy Navel?" I stuck my tongue out and some color started returning to her cheeks.

"Zach, uhm this is DeeDee and Josh. They're…" she trailed off and the crinkle was back as she stared at the two.

"We went to school with Cammie." The blonde reached out and shook my hand. She smiled easily and her eyes were surveying me. A little too long.

DeeDee started rambling about how she got into this party and how she saw Cammie. But I was only half paying attention to her. I was trying to read the situation and the way Cammie was frozen staring at the boy. Josh or Jimmy or whatever was just looking around and shoving his hands in his pockets. I saw Cammie ball her hands in a fist and my hands just acted on instinct.

My hand was on the small of her back and I felt her whole body tense for a second. Jimmy finally stopped staring at the ground and looked at where my hand was. His facial expression was one I would describe as being sucker punched. But Cammie didn't notice any of this because she was looking up at me, perplexed.

DeeDee actually stuttered in her story but then smiled even brighter than before. She finally leaned onto Jimmy and he still looked like he wanted to throw up. But Cammie did too now.

"And well, here we are!" DeeDee summed up her rambling and I laughed like I had been paying attention. Cammie needed an escape and fast. Or else I think she would be stuck here forever.

I leaned down a little closer to her ear, "Cam, we're waiting on you for another game." She blinked a few times and turned to face me.

"Okay. Yeah I'll be there in a minute." I took my hand off of her back and saw her shiver a little, but I turned my attention to the couple.

"It was great meeting you." I sent a small smirk in Jimmy's direction and he stood shell-shocked. I walked away trying to think of what just happened.

It was obvious there was some history between her and the guy, but I couldn't tell exactly what. She seemed angry with him, but she kept staring. I don't know why I put my hand on her back. I already felt her skin before realizing exactly what I was doing, but it got Jimmy to actually look at her. If she wanted to make him jealous, I think it worked. But I still don't understand why she froze. All I had ever seen from her was a witty little fireball that always had some type of response. But then again, what do I know? I just met her.

I saw her starting to walk back. I risked a quick glance at her and she looked as baffled as I felt.

"Where's your drink?" She narrowed her eyes on me and then I remembered I still had her drink in my hand.

"He took it." She swiped it and made a face when she took a drink. But then she kept drinking. She watched the game but her thumb was messing with the label. She was clearly shook about the whole conversation.

"Dammit Lucas!" David was yelling at Lucas but now he had a few drinks in him and it rolled right off of him.

"Sorry." He shrugged and rolled his eyes at me.

"Where is Grant? He would be a better partner." Probably lost with the British chick, but I couldn't say that because Cammie was choking on her drink.

"Grant? Like Grant that just got into the frat, Grant?" It was oddly specific and the silence around the table was enough to know she knew him. I just wanted to know how.

"Yeah. He's my roommate." She gave a light laugh and smiled for the first time since leaving the table.

"My roommate likes him!" We all shared a collective groan. Ever since rush week started more and more girls have started flirting with him.

"Good luck to her. He's already head over heels for this British chick." Her eyes widened again.

"That's my roommate!" Now there's a twist in the story.

"That's your roommate? I had to hear him talk about her for weeks before I hit her with the pencil." Her whole face lit up.

"You were the one to throw the pencil at her?"

"He was never going to talk to her so I had to make him."

"Well I guess I should thank you. I've never seen her so happy." That event really was the start of it all. All of the, 'do I look okay?', 'should I text her'. The whole ordeal.

"I would say you're welcome, but now Grant is always pestering me about what to text her." The smile disappeared for a second.

"Oh god. Don't tell me you're the one texting her."

"No way. I told him he was on his own now."

"Well I hope it doesn't last." David was grumbling in the corner, "We need our boy back if I want to win at pool ever again." Cammie glared at him and only then did we both notice how close we were. I didn't make an attempt to move and neither did she.

"We don't need Grant. We have Cammie now." Nick swung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her away.

"Yeah. Cammie is better than Grant was." Jonas took a second to think about the statistic, "Especially if Grant was drinking." David was still pouting in the corner.

"Fine. But if Grant comes back, sorry but it's bros before hoes." Cammie scoffed and rolled her eyes. Yeah it was a pretty bad line and one I never thought David would say. But he had been drinking along with Nick.

"Alright Camster. You're up. Loser of this buys pizza." Nick was already grabbing the other stick but she looked at us all questioningly.

"Since when did I agree to getting pizza?" Oh yeah. I was supposed to ask her.

"You don't want to get pizza with us? I thought we made a good impression on you." She looked at all of us and I saw a small smile growing on her lips.

"I'll go but I'm not paying."

"Well I guess you better beat Nick then, Gallagher Girl." She watched as Nick swayed on the spot and a cheshire cat grin crossed her face.

"Alright. But Nick, you should know I like extra cheese on my pizza. Think you can afford that?" Nick's head was already rolling but he centered back up and gave a wave and maybe a wink.

"Honey, you can get whatever you like."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Nick was almost completely dead weight at this point. He walked to the truck fine but once I took his keys away he was starting to pout. And that was before Lucas tried shoving him into the back seat.

"I wanted to be shot gun!" He kicked his legs around and one shoe smacked me in the side of the face. I grabbed his feet and shoved them in before slamming the door shut. I sighed and rubbed my cheek.

"Ugh Nick! I'm about to put the child lock on." Lucas kept shutting the door just for Nick to open it again. Cammie looked at the scene and started towards Jonas's car. Yeah, good choice.

I settled into the driver's seat. Nick sighed in the back.

"Zach, I wanted to sit in the front."

"I know. But now you have the whole back seat to stretch out in. Think about how great that will be when you're full of pizza." I felt a hand touch the top of my head and start petting me.

"You're a good friend Zach." I took his hand and folded it across his chest.

"Thanks buddy." Lucas shut the door and huffed beside me.

"He's a damn child."

"Yeah, we should be getting babysitting money." Lucas turned to glare at Nick, but Nick was already humming some song. He turned back his eyes glinting mischievously.

"So that's the laundry room girl?"

"That's the one." Lucas sat with a smug smile on his face.

"You didn't tell us how hot she was." I shrugged. I hadn't really seen it before, but I still felt like hot wasn't the exact right word. She was definitely attractive in that little grey top and jeans, but she didn't have the personality of a 'hot girl'. And that was a good thing.

"Yeah. Well it's hard to see the hotness when she was yelling at me." He put his arms behind his head and propped his feet up on the dash.

"I like her. She's fun and I think she would fit in with us."

"Do you 'like' her like her?" I held my breath waiting for the answer. I wasn't even sure what I wanted it to be. And he had to think for a while.

"I don't even know if she's single. If she is, I guess I'll have to see." He looked over at me then, "Do you like her?"

"Me?" I laughed a little. "Don't be ridiculous. I don't have time for any of that. And besides, she hates me already."

"She doesn't hate you." Nick sprang to life and leaned on the console between us, poking my cheek. "She never would have stayed if she hated you." He had a light melodic tone in his voice. But he made a valid point. Why did she stay when she saw me? She could have just walked away, I mean I did kind of embarrass her.

"Nick, what do you think of Cammie?" He rested his cheek on his hand.

"She's cool. Pretty and witty. Can we keep her?"

"I don't know. David might scare her off." She was practically alone with him for the drive, even though it's a short one. I was already parking, but I didn't see Jonas's car yet.

"Let's go get some pizza." Nick tried opening the door, but it wouldn't open for him.

"It's… it's locked." Lucas smirked next to me and opened the door.

"We found his weakness. Child locked doors."

It took three times, but we finally got Nick up on his feet. He took a deep breath and the pizza aromas wafted around him. He straightened his shoulders and did his best to walk in a straight line. He started staggering towards a mailbox, so Lucas and I flanked him. I was glad to see Katie was picking up six menus and walking towards our booth when we made it through the doors.

David was already grinning and trying to keep eye contact with Katie, but she was looking at Cammie and for a second her smile dropped. David still watched her walk away but she never looked back.

"Dude, when are you ever going to ask her out?"

"I'll do it in my own time." His words were forced but I saw a red creeping up his neck. "Katie probably doesn't like me anyway." Who knew David was having these kinds of troubles too. I thought the girl infestation had only really spread to Grant.

"Oh she likes you." Wait, what? We all turned to look at Cammie and she had a puzzled expression on her face.

"Do you not see the way she laughs at you? And the way she eyed me? She definitely likes you. She's probably just waiting for you to make your move."

"See," Nick slammed his elbow on the table to lean toward David. "I told you she liked you." David looked around frantically.

"What should I do?"

"Just ask her to dinner. And not for pizza. Or a movie, I don't know." David still looked nervous but Cammie looked like she was going to laugh at him.

"Bet you're glad Camster is here now." Lucas bumped her shoulder but David just flipped him off behind her back.

Nick was already standing up in his seat before either of us could stop him. "Attention everyone! We have a love expert here!" We both pulled him down by an arm and he landed with a thud. I turned to the booth behind us and apologized.

"So Cammie," Lucas was leaning in close and his eyes looked more hooded than usual, "do you have a boyfriend?"

Nick chuckled next to me but the rest of us went still. Only Jonas punched his shoulder. "Dude you can't just ask that."

"Why not? If she wants to be part of this group I think we should know. Here I'll start it off." He pointed over to Jonas, "Single, but not actively looking. Well as you know, he's hung up on Katie." He skipped to Nick who was starting to droop in his seat. "Girlfrined, he's just a flirt though. Don't take him seriously." He barely pointed at me saying, "Single" but I still saw the corners of Cammie's mouth turn up a little so I smirked.

"Single and ready to mingle." Lucas winked at her and Cammie went completely red. We were all laughing but David shook his head.

"Don't listen to him. Lucas has been looking for a girlfriend since he moved in."

"I have not! I just know a pretty girl when I see one." I rolled my eyes.

"You have too! You hit on Grant's sister when she helped him move in." Lucas looked like he wanted to deny it but I sent it a look that told him not to even try. So he just gave a grin.

"Yeah. She was pretty hot." He shook his head and went back to Cammie. "So are you single or not?"

"Semi-newly single." She bit her lip and swallowed hard. "I wanted a fresh start for college." So that's who the guy was. But from the way she looked at him I would have expected he broke up with her.

"Well Camster, it's nice meeting you." He heard the 's' word and that was all he needed. But I knew there was more to the story and she wasn't going to be looking for any relationship.

"Sorry Lucas. I think you're going to be a great friend." We all cheered and Lucas hung his head.

"Friendzoned in the first night. That's pretty cold." Jonas held his hand up to high five her.

"Ouch Cammie. You may have just passed up on your soulmate." Lucas held a hand to his chest like his heart was breaking, but Cammie just giggled.

"Well if you are my soulmate, I'll come crawling right back to you. You better be single if that happens." She pointed a finger at him but Lucas just grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it.

"Only for you babe."

Maybe when she was ready for a relationship, she would go back to Lucas. She seemed to like him enough and he likes her. It would only be a matter of time.

0000000000000000

After eating some slices of pizza and watching Lucas still try to throw himself at Cammie, I was beginning to feel a lot like Nick; worn down and ready to get out of here.

"I think we better get him home soon. I don't want to have to carry him all the way up the stairs again."

"It's only one in the morning Zach. The night is still young!" It's true. It wasn't that late and most people were just now coming from parties, but Nick was close to falling asleep on my shoulder and I was done. I dug Nick's credit card out of his wallet and waved for Katie.

"You guys can stay, but I need to get him home." David was coaxing Nick to finish his water. Hopefully that would keep him awake. He could still walk, but his feet were already dragging. His knee looked like it was about to collapse so I threw his arm around my shoulder to support him. I guess it would be just me and Nicky. That would be fun getting him up the stairs.

"Mind if I hitch a ride with you? I probably should go too."

I was about to drop Nick on his face, because there is no way Gallagher Girl just volunteered to ride with me when she could stay with Lucas. But she didn't look like she was joking, she looked like she really did want to go home.

"Yeah. Just help me get him in the truck." She grabbed his other arm and Nick was much more cooperative now. He slid right in and closed his eyes.

"I should…" She pointed back to where my friends were and walked towards them. I heard her thanking them and I made sure Nick was situated.

"You're not going to throw up, are you?" Nick yawned and stared at the roof of his truck.

"Just don't hit too many bumps." He put a hand over his face and his smile dropped.

"Are you going to be alright?" He kept his eyes shut and nodded. I tried to believe him. They were always alright.

I started the truck up and saw Lucas spinning her around but she punched his shoulder and pointed towards the bustling crowd. He walked towards a bunch of girls and Cammie was shaking her head laughing.

She settled into the front seat and her eyes were trained on Lucas. He was already flirting with the girls and one was drawing closer. "He's really something."

I bristled slightly. I couldn't read her tone, but if she liked him she should be pissed right now. But she was the one to friendzone him, and Lucas probably saw that it wasn't going anywhere.

"Yeah. Lucas is kind of a ladies man." She shrugged and kept her eyes forward as I drove away. It was really quiet; except for Nick's quiet snoring. She shifted in her seat a little.

"So about earlier…" That could have meant many things, but there was one thing we really hadn't talked about and it still burned fresh in my mind.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, it just looked like you needed some help." I still couldn't believe what I had done. But it had worked.

"No it's fine," she rushed to add before I could continue. "Thanks by the way." She had a small smile on her face. It was rare that I made her smile some how so I soaked it in. Until I needed a few more answers.

"Was that the ex?" She went a little rigid.

"Who?"

"Jimmy, the guy from the party."

"Josh." The word was sharp from her mouth and she tensed. "And that was his new girlfriend." Yikes. The whole situation started to make more sense now.

"Sorry. Must be tough seeing them together." She pursed her lips but she didn't bite back or say anything snotty about them. I wouldn't hold it against her if she did, but she seemed calm.

"Thanks for helping me though. If there's ever an ex girlfriend you need saving from, I'll return the favor." She sounded sarcastic, but she didn't really look like she was joking.

"None." Her eyes went wide.

"None?" I had to laugh. I really didn't have any girlfriends. Sure a few girls that I kissed, but they went their own way.

"I went to an all-boys school. I didn't really have time for a girlfriend. Unless you count the one that I had for three days when I was ten." I think her name was Kara. Or Carrie. Or Carolyn. I don't know something like that. I just know she was the first girl that kissed me. But then she avoided me after that and I went to Blackthorne before I could even contemplate what any of that meant.

Cammie just leaned onto the console and had a devilish grin, "Everyone knows those are the most dangerous girlfriends of all. They have some type of childhood claim on you." I liked this side of Cammie. We were pretty much alone together and she wasn't trying to bite my head off or in a weird frozen daze. She was funny and I liked hanging out with her.

"Well if she ever comes around, I'll let you know."

We were already back on campus and now I was wishing I had made us stay out longer. But then I remembered why we had to leave. I nudged Nick to wake up and he took a sharp intake of air. I walked around and opened his door to see him trying to smirk up at Cammie.

"Really Cammie, I'm not that kind of guy." I pulled on his feet to put them on the ground and he groaned, but was standing fairly steady on the ground. He even did well walking, until we paused to open up the outside door. I saw him lean against the wall and every second I searched for my keys he was closer and closer to the ground. I crouched down and grabbed his face with my hand.

"Nick I am not carrying you up the stairs again. You are going to have to walk." His eyes fluttered open and he looked over my shoulder.

"Cammie can carry me." He held out an arm toward Cammie and she pulled on it, trying to pick him up. I grabbed his other arm and we pushed him through the door. He was stumbling a little and I knew we would have some trouble on the stairs..

"Come on buddy. Just like we practiced." He put one foot in front of the other. His head and shoulders were drooping, but his feet just kept walking. He did the motion for another step but we were at the top and he faltered forward, almost taking us down with him. His eyes jolted open again long enough to get to our door. I tried to keep one arm around him while digging for my keys, but he was drooping. Cammie lifted him up with all her might.

"Come on Nick. Wake up." He inhaled and I heard him yawn just as I got the door open. He didn't say anything as he walked through the living room and right into his room. I hoped he wouldn't feel too bad in the morning.

"Is this what happens every Saturday?" It was getting tiring, but luckily I didn't have to do this every night.

"Not every Saturday, just when he fights with Annie. Usually Grant is there to help, but you didn't do so bad, Gallagher Girl." She laughed and trailed off.

"Well I should get going." I knew she would have to, but I didn't want that to happen just yet.

"I'll walk you back."

"You really don't have to. It's just downstairs." She was shaking her head, but I still wanted any excuse to keep talking to her.

"Yeah but it's late. And on the night after rush week there's bound to be some rowdy people in the halls." And just to prove my point a girl went by crying loudly. Not exactly threatening, but anything helps. "See they're everywhere." She laughed and bit her lip looking out into the hallway. She started towards the staircase and I followed behind.

"Besides, how else am I going to get my shirt back?" She scrunched her eyebrows together but she was still laughing.

"You shouldn't have taken my dryer!" She jogged down the stairs quickly and I took them two at a time to keep up.

"So you did take my shirt."

"No! But if you never stole my dryer your shirt wouldn't have been mixed in my clothes." She raised an eyebrow at me and tried looking angry.

"You're not actually mad about that are you, Gallagher Girl?" She pursed her lips and reached around me to push open the door but paused.

"I'll tell you what. You can have your shirt back if you do my laundry for the next two weeks."

"That's a steep price for a shirt that you took." She smirked and stepped closer turning the door knob.

"You should've thought about that before-" She flung open the door but her face went completely into shock. I peaked over my shoulder and saw Grant looking pretty satisfied with Bex smoothing her hair frantically.

"Hey Flash! Uhm, this is Grant." She motioned toward Grant and then her eyes locked on me.

"And that's the pencil thrower!"

"He's also the dryer stealer." Grant looked at me like he just stumbled into the most interesting party in the world.

"Wait, Zach this is the girl you ran into at the laundry room." He had made three references in a week about her and now they were coming face to face.

"Ah yes, this is just the best reunion ever. Now it's almost two and it's time to save the whole story for another day." Cammie was already making her way down the hallway and Grant looked like he was about to have a very chick-flick type moment, so I followed Cammie. She was already holding my shirt in her hand and cocked an eyebrow.

"Do we have a deal?" I had to have a bit of an upper hand after that demand. Then it came to me.

"Really Gallagher Girl, there are other ways to show me your underwear." I winked and her face went flush. I was walking back out the door down the hall, "I'll see you Saturday." Grant was holding onto Bex's hand and looking deeply into her eyes, so I grabbed his collar. "Come on Romeo. She'll be here tomorrow."

Grant resisted and stopped by the door.

"It was nice meeting you!" He waved at Cammie and held onto the door frame, looking at Bex. "So Saturday?"

"Yeah. I'll see you then." I pulled him from the door when he was satisfied with the answer and he almost floated down the hall.

"Did you have a good night?" He didn't even seem to hear me so I asked again.

"Did you have a good night?" He blinked a few times but his grin didn't disappear.

"Zach, I think I'm in love."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So it's kind of a short chapter, but it gives you the insight of the talk the guys had about Cammie.**

Chapter 8

"Alright we're all here. Now what's the emergency? It's nine in the morning and Nick looks like he's about to throw up." Jonas motioned to Nick who was hugging a trashcan.

"He might after I tell you the news. Grant, do you want to share what you told me last night?"

"What?" Grant looked puzzled, but I don't know how he could have forgotten the most important fact in his current life.

"Don't ,'what' me. You know what. The thing you said after you were sucking face with that girl." He smiled again.

"I think I'm in love." Lucas's eyes were about to bulge out of his head, David shook his head, Jonas put a hand to his mouth, thinking.

"I'm sorry what?"

"I'm falling in love with Bex." He said it so matter of factly, like it was just that simple. But of course it wasn't, nothing ever was.

"What the hell happened last night? There is no way after one sort of date, you are in love with her."

Grant frowned, "Why can't I? I've never felt like this before."

"That's because you've never really had a girlfriend before," Jonas interjected.

"So then why does that mean I can't be in love?" Jonas just put a hand to his temple and shook his head. Nick's head lulled to the side but he was alert.

"I think you could be. But you don't need to act on it." Grant walked toward his one ally on this topic.

"See, Nick thinks I'm fine. And he's the only one of us with a girlfriend so I would say he's the expert in the room." Nick beamed and he almost looked sober.

"Grant could already be falling for her. I knew after my first date with Annie that I really could love her." A dark shadow crossed his face and I saw Jonas and Lucas exchange a glance.

"I never said you couldn't be. I just think it's trouble." Grant scoffed at me.

"What's trouble? Me telling her that I think she's amazing? Me telling her that I could really fall for her?"

"Yes!" All four of us exclaimed at once. He sank into the chair and looked significantly less glowing than he did last night. I hated to be the reason for it.

"You can't tell her so early. You might scare her away." Jonas tried to lighten his tone when taking the lead for us.

Lucas nodded, "He's right. Girls think that they want to hear those words but when they actually come out of your mouth, it changes everything. You can't take them back either." Grant looked over at Nick for some type of confirmation.

"Maybe it's best to just keep it inside for right now. Give it some time until you really feel like both of you are in the same place."

"What if that moment is next Saturday?" David narrowed his eyes at him.

"What happens next Saturday?"

"I'm going on a date with Bex." Drew was right. That was going to be the end of Grant coming out with us.

David shook his head, "You're not coming with us. We're going to be an odd number again."

"No we're not." He looked at me expectantly. "Cammie is coming with us."

"She is? Great!" Lucas cheered, David tried not to smile.

"Alright, everyone sit." Jonas was pacing in front of us and we were looking confused.

He stopped pacing and clamped his hands together. "Alright how many of you like hanging out with Cammie?" We all raised our hand, even David begrudgingly raised his.

"Good. That's what I was hoping. And do we agree that we wouldn't want to do anything to scare her off or anything to come between us?" We all nodded our heads and mumbled some affirmation.

"Alright, then we need to know right now who likes her. We're not going to have a fight over a girl." The silence stretched out over the space between us. David held his hands up defensively.

"Don't look at me. I finally found out Katie likes me." Jonas's gaze swept over to Nick.

"Nick? What do you think?" He sighed and looked down at the trashcan.

"No. She's nice but she's not Annie." He finally looked at Lucas and me and took a deep breath.

"Okay it's you two that I need an answer from." Lucas rested his chin on his hand, looking off into the distance.

"It doesn't matter. She doesn't like any of us, so what would it matter if we liked her?"

David snorted, "She might not like you know but she just met everyone. I'm team Lucas. You really hit it off."

"Oh come on!" Nick stood up a little wobbily, but he was up. "She doesn't like Lucas. That was complete one sided flirting. I'm team Zach." I stared wide eyed at him.

"Since when am I an option? She would never like me." Nick shook his head.

"Did you hear yourself last night on the way home? She was laughing and leaning in. I'm not quite sure what you said, it was all pretty muffled but she was into you."

"Nick, she hated him. He stole her dryer. She won't get over that very easily." I was about to say that we already had a payment plan to work off that crime, but Nick was already interjecting.

"She never would have stayed and volunteered to go home with us if she hated him." They were starting to get into a full debate with Nick randomly touching my hair and David pointing at Lucas's height (which was really pointless because we were the same height). Jonas and Grant sat quietly watching the madness. It was getting crazy so Grant whistled loudly getting them both to stop.

"This is already tearing us apart, and we don't even know if they like her."

"You're right." David crossed his arms and had a smug smile. "Lucas, answer the question, but you're it's pretty clear what his answer is." But I knew Lucas pretty well at this point and he didn't look like he had a clear answer. He almost seemed nervous to answer.

"She's pretty, funny, and knows her way around a pool table."

"So…" Jonas motioned for him to continue.

"I don't know if it's there. She already friendzoned me anyway." Finally both Lucas and Jonas turned to me.

"She's not like the other girls." Lucas gave a half laugh.

"How is she not like the other girls? Because she doesn't pass out at the thought of pizza?"

"I don't know. She came up to a group of guys with no intentions of hooking up with anyone. It feels like we've known her for a lot longer than just one night."

"I still don't get why a girl like that is single." Lucas shook his head in disbelief, but I felt like I knew most of the reason. She probably felt betrayed after the breakup, and I guess everyone needs time to heal. And she wasn't ready to move on.

I could've said some part of that but Jonas just shrugged, "Probably has trouble committing." It was more than that though and I felt compelled to defend her.

"She's probably picky about who she dates. Puts up a wall to weed out the guys that are just looking for one night."

David tried to suppress a grin, "It worked on Lucas." Lucas reached over and hit him.

"Hey! You were just on my side!"

"And I still think she could like you. But now I know you don't like her."

"I just wanted to flirt a little."

"You never finished answering the question." Grant leaned forward to the edge of his seat. "Do you like Laundry Room girl or not?"

It didn't really matter what that answer could be. She wasn't going to be moving on anytime soon.

"I think she'll be a great friend."

Everyone shrugged or nodded. Nick stood up, "Okay is this meeting adjourned? Because I would really like to get back to sleep now."

Jonas nodded and then looked at me. I was the one to call it after all.

"Go back to sleep."

Everyone filed out into other rooms and I went to go get ready for the day. Unfortunately Jonas followed and shut the door.

"Alright I need a straight answer from you."

"What do you mean?" He crossed is arms and tried to look intimidating.

"How do you not like Cammie? She's what you described your type would be. You just said she wasn't like other girls, which was what you wanted. Why wouldn't you like her?" I sighed and collapsed onto my bed.

"We're just friends. She's not going to be moving on anytime soon." He arched an eyebrow at me.

"How do you know that?"

"I kind of saw an interaction between her and her ex. I don't think she's over it."

"Okay, but what if she were ready to move on?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. I don't need a distraction. We're just going to be friends."

He studied me for a while before opening the door again.

"Alright. Then we'll all just be friends with her."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Don't hate me for this late(ish) update. It's been a busy time at work right before Spring Break and I haven't had the time to sit down and write. Speaking of Spring Break, I'm about to go on a week long trip so the next update won't be until next Saturday or Sunday. I'm already editing to make sure it is perfect and it might be one of my favorites. Please review and enjoy!**

Chapter 9

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little more than excited to be going to Chance's tonight. For one, it was Chance's. Frat parties weren't really my scene and I felt pretty comfortable in a bar. But most importantly, this was Cammie's first full night hanging out with us. I liked hanging out with her. Just the hour we spent in the laundry room was fun filled.

So yeah, I was excited but also a little nervous. Ever since the whole conversation about being just friends with her, Grant and Jonas have been pretty persistent with asking if I was sure about my decision. Of course I was sure. I knew what I was talking about when I told them we were just friends and I wasn't going back on it.

All week, I was bothered by their pestering, and I was glad to finally get out of the room and run a little. I kept my pace steady and it felt nice to not be plagued by the thoughts of Cammie. But that was about to change.

I was rounding the corner near the outskirts of campus and saw her blonde ponytail swinging back and forth on the other side of the trees. I cut through them to catch up with her and had to pick up the pace to finish reaching her.

"Hey Gallagher Girl." She didn't even look a little surprised that I was there.

"Hey Blackthorne Boy. What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing. I've been running this trail, at this time, since August and I've never seen you there." She looked around at the trail, taking in the sights. I don't know how she found it, but I could tell she already liked it.

"Maybe you just never noticed me." That was a little hard to believe. I couldn't imagine a girl like Cammie ever going completely unnoticed. Especially when she ran.

"Really Cammie. I would notice a girl that was running if they were going as fast as you are." She bit back a smile.

"Oh yeah. I forgot you are all about safety."

I smiled thinking of our first night. "Safety begins with me."

She smiled but continued running. I felt like she kept getting faster and it was getting harder to keep up. I was already starting to sweat and I began to think she had the stamina of Wonder Woman.

"How far do you run?"

"Hm. I don't really know. It changes from time to time."

"How far has it been lately?"

"Probably five miles today." I raised my eyebrows, a little impressed.

"Ok the distance isn't bad but you have to slow down." I saw a smirk cross her face.

"Bex doesn't call me Flash for nothing." I mustered up a laugh but instantly a cramp shot up my side and I doubled over.

"Don't stand like that." She grabbed my shoulders and forced me to stand straight. I took a ragged breath and she put my arms above my head.

"So I just have to stand like I'm doing the macarana?" She smirked and pulled her hands away.

"Just breath, the cramp will go away." I took a deep breath and my whole sided felt like it was on fire. I took another. And then another. Eventually the pain receded.

"You're not breathing right." Out of all the instruction and coaching I've ever had, I had never been told that. Was there a new way to breath?

"I'm sorry, should I try breathing through my ears?" She rolled her eyes at me and I wanted to laugh, but I didn't want to risk another cramp.

"I mean when you're running. You cramp because you aren't getting enough air. The key to distance running is your breathing."

I should have known that. Of course breathing was important when you were running but I never knew I could be breathing wrong.

"How do you know so much about this?"

She shrugged, "Kinesiology major. And I ran track." Yeah I could believe that.

"You don't run for the school?"

"It's more of a hobby now." Things would be much greater if I ran for fun. Or played soccer for fun. The pressure would be off to have to succeed all the time.

"Want to jog back?" She started jogging and lucky for me it was a true jog. I don't think I could keep up if she went any faster. That gave me a little practice to figure out how to breath.

"What's your major?" She interjected my thoughts and I had to think for a second what I decided it would be.

"Psychology." Probably pretty ironic since my own mother's condition, but that's usually how it goes. One traumatic experience and your whole life revolves around doing the opposite.

"What? I didn't know that!" She got really excited and I laughed a little.

"Well you never asked. And we just met."

"I could've picked your brains for my paper last week."

"As fun as that sounds, psych papers are really only helpful for the person writing them. I don't think the same way you do."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Nerd."

We fell back into a steady rhythm of feet hitting the pavement. It's probably in my top five most relaxing sounds in the world. It always lead me to thinking and now that Cammie was next to me, my thoughts kept revolving around Grant and Jonas's words. _Are you sure?_

"Are you excited for tonight?"

"Well I'm not ready for the stress yoga Bex will be doing for hours. But yeah. She's really excited about the date." She sounded so selfless, only concerned about her friend. She was a good friend to everyone.

"I meant about your first full night at Chance's. But nice to know she's excited." Grant definitely mirrored Bex's emotions. The two couldn't stop laughing in class on Thursday and he spent the days before planning their date. It had gone through many phases, from movies to the fancy dinner to dancing and to going to a bar. But he finally settled on bowling.

"Oh yeah!" She had a genuine smile on her face now. "It will be fun." We were already back at the dorm and I would have to make sure Grant wasn't freaking out.

"What time do I need to meet?"

"We leave around eight, but you can come up whenever you want. You know, in case you want to get away from the yoga session."

"No way. If she would out I ditched helping her get ready to hang out with some guys, I would probably be tied in a knot." Okay, that might have stung a little. Did she think we were just some guys?

"Door's always open."

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Grant straightened his shirt in the mirror and smoothed his hair.

"Do you think it's too early to go pick her up?" I looked at the clock on our wall. It was almost seven and he told her he would pick her up at seven.

"It's close enough. Go get her tiger." I slapped him on the back and he looked nervous and lingered by the door.

"What's wrong?" He looked down at the rose he got for her and fingered the petals.

"I really like her."

"Yeah. That's pretty obvious. What's the problem?" He finally looked up and I had never seen him look so scared before.

"What if I mess it up?"

"How would you mess it up?"

He sighed and tossed the rose to the side. "I don't know. I've just seen my sister hurt so many times over a guy. She always says that all guys are stupid and tells me what not to do. But I'm starting to think it's bound to happen."

"Seriously. You think just because you're a guy, you're going to do something stupid." He tried to laugh.

"Have you met me? And this is my first real girlfriend. I don't even really know how to act." I picked up his rose and put it back in his hands.

"I think you're off to a good start. Don't worry about what could happen. Just treat her right, and see where it goes."

"And if I do screw it up?"

"Then I'll be there to throw a pencil at the next girl." She gave me a pointed look and grabbed his rose.

"Okay I'm going to leave. This pep talk hasn't made me feel very peppy."

"Alright one last chance then." I took a deep breath and put on a serious face. "Grant. Grant. Grant." I started chanting and clapping. "Grant! Grant!" Lucas opened his door and started cheering with me.

"Grant! Grant! Grant!" He backed away from us toward the door, hastily looking for the knob.

"You guys suck." He started running down the hall but we stepped outside too.

"Go get 'em! You got this!"

"Yeah! You can do it!" He flipped us off and ducked into the stairwell.

"Well that was fun. Are you ready for tonight?" Lucas eyed what I had on.

"I was about to change."

"Thank god. You look pretty shitty." I put him in a headlock and ruffled his hair. "Hey! Stop that! I didn't mean it!" I let him go after one last ruffle.

"Dammit Zach. Now I have to fix my hair again."

"Why are you so concerned about how we look today? You let Nick wear joggers to Chance's last time."

He was already smoothing and pulling on his hair, "It's the first night Cammie is with us. I want to make a good impression." I smirked at him.

"I think you already made an impression on her. And you said you didn't like her."

"I don't. But I can still try to show her what she's missing after putting me in the friendzone so quickly." He cocked an eyebrow, "Maybe she'll reconsider."

"You can dream."

I left him getting his finishing touches back in place. I guess it was a special night and I should try to at least think about what I wear. I didn't want to look like I was too dressy or too casual. And I didn't want to look like I was trying too hard.

 _This is ridiculous. When have I ever cared about what I wore to the bar?_

My inner thoughts made me make a decision quickly. I shouldn't be concerned with what I was wearing. It was just going to be another night out with friends. Sure one of those friends was a girl, but we already decided we were all going to be friends.

I pulled my shirt on when I heard Lucas's voice in the hallway. It was light and singsong like. And when I heard him call for me, I knew who would be standing there.

"Doesn't Cammie look good?" I looked at her and tried to control the thoughts in my head. But damn, the girl looked good. If she were some random chick at the bar, I would've hit on her and maybe tried to make out with her. But she wasn't a random chick and there was an agreement in place.

So instead of saying anything embarrassing I smirked and said, "Well, you don't look hideous." She blushed right away.

"Ditto."

"So that's a 'yes' from Zach. Nick what do you think?"

Nick was stepping out of his room, "I'm more of an Indians fan, but yeah. Not too bad Morgan." She had a Red Sox jersey on and I definitely respected her even more.

"What is with you guys?"

We all shared a look and Nick shrugged. "What? You're an attractive girl and Lucas asked. You're going to get hit on a lot tonight so be prepared."

"Yeah, a lot of those guys aren't used to seeing girls at Chance's. And you're fresh meat." My stomach twisted. I didn't like the thought of that. I knew what guys would be like, because if I'm being frank, I was just like them the first few weeks here. It would be all touching and leaning in and whispering nothings in her ear. Yeah, I didn't like the sound of that.

"Don't worry Cammie. We'll protect you." Lucas put his arm over her shoulder. If anyone knew what those guys were like, it was Lucas. And seeing how he was treating her, I have a feeling he didn't like the idea of our friend being treated like that.

"If they get too handsy, I could always pretend to be your boyfriend." He winked at her and my stomach twisted even more.

Cammie slapped his hand, "I said no hitting on me." He smiled and took his arm away.

"Okay, but really. If they just don't go away we'll help you."

She smiled and then caught my eye. I had a feeling we were both thinking about the last time she needed help. And I was there. She looked back down at her feet and started for the door.

 **Shoutouts! I haven't done these in a long time and thought I need to give some credit to those reviewers that are always there! You guys rock and I am so happy to have you!**

 **ZAMMIE! Your reviews always make me smile! Thank you for always reviewing and sometimes getting me to be productive and start writing again.**

 **HershyLife: I'm so glad you like the story! And to answer your question a few chapters back, yes kind of. I have both stories open at the same time to make sure the dialogue is the same but I really like adding some extra details that Zach picked up on. Then I have times when I'm not sure how far into the scene I want to go. In a chapter coming up I go a little further than in Dirty Laundry. I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

 **AllyCarterFan: Your reviews always mean so much to me! I know the pace is slow and I'm kind of teasing you (especially since this next chapter is probably my favorite I've written so far) but grown up jobs are very time consuming. I'm trying to allow myself enough time to write and edit if I don't like the way the story was going before publishing. Bear with me and I promise it will be worth it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Yes I know it has been a while and I'm sorry. I've had zero time and when I did I kind of forgot until a couple of reviews alerted me yesterday. I will say this might be my favorite chapter so far and I hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter 10

It was a fairly crowded night at Chance's. Many of the tables were full and there wasn't a seat at the bar. But the group of girls that Lucas had been friendly with were already perched on their bar stools. The brunette was already waving at Lucas and I saw Cady give me a smile, but then it all disappeared. Instead of a smile on her face, it was a sneer. I followed her gaze and she was looking directly at Cammie. But Cammie didn't seem to really care about the girls' whispers. She was looking around the bar, and she was looking afraid.

Lucas and Nick broke off to get started with drinks, and for a moment Cammie was completely out in the open. I hustled to cover her from one side, subtly blocking her from the leeches around the bar. When we got to a round booth, David scooted her into the middle. One guy started walking over but I gave him a hard look and he turned back around. Yeah, tonight wasn't going to be like the other nights.

Lucas was trying his best to get away from the bar, but my attention wasn't on him, or the girls. Drew was looking my way with an amused expression on his face. He gave a subtle nod toward Cammie and smirked. I shook my head just as Lucas and Nick placed the pitcher on the table.

"Camster, you are my guardian angel. That girl over there has been hitting on me for weeks but one look at you and she stopped." I risked a glance at the girls and all five of them looked annoyed.

"Yeah but now the only five girls in this bar probably hate me." She sounded bitter about the whole ordeal, but I knew she would be better off. Those girls weren't the type to play friendly.

"You don't come to this place trying to make girl friends. Besides, you have us." Cammie looked up at David and finally a wide smile crossed her face. She sat up straighter and leaned closer to David.

"Did Katie say yes?" Nick slammed his glass down on the table.

"What? You asked Katie out?" I sat in shock. For months he had been crushing on Katie, but I never thought he would really ask her out.

"Yes I did. We're going to the movies on Wednesday." He was trying to keep his cool but I knew this was a big deal. I gave him a high five and the whole table seemed to celebrate.

"Yeah. He spent two hours trying to figure out how to ask her out." David glared at Jonas but it vanished quickly.

Nick raised his glass in the air, "A toast to David. It took you two months to ask her out but you did it." They started into the pitcher and grabbed the vacant table while it was still available. I made my way over to the bar to get my Dr. Pepper, avoiding the end with the girls.

"Who's the girl?" Drew didn't even hesitate. He kept my drink on his side until he would get his answer.

"A new friend."

"Oh a 'friend'." He made air quotes and smirked. "Who's 'friend' is she? Lucas? Is that why he wasn't all over that girl tonight?" I rolled my eyes and reached across the bar but he moved it away.

"She's just our friend Drew. Nothing more." He looked over at Cammie and slowly slid my drink to me.

"But why? Does she have a boyfriend?" I shook my head.

"Already crushing on someone?" I shrugged.

"I don't think so." Drew smirked again.

"Well that could always change."

"Yeah. She's got her pick of the crop here."

"Is someone jealous?"

"Jealous?" I half laughed. "Of the guys here? No way."

"Uh huh. We'll see about that."

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So maybe there was a little truth to Drew's words. I didn't like seeing Cammie get hit on, but she didn't either. I almost lost it when a guy touched her ass, but he got a gut hit from Cammie. Nick wanted to leap across the table and I didn't try to stop him, but Jonas did. And between the five of us, we tried to keep as many guys away.

I guess that's why I was more distracted than usual, well one of the reasons. For some reason Cammie stayed pretty close to me tonight. More than one occasion her arm brushed against mine and made me miss my shot. Luckily Lucas didn't really mind.

"Come on David. Just need this one last shot." I stood next to Lucas, hoping David would miss. But the eight ball effortlessly glided into the pocket and I hung my head.

"Alright that's the second game I lost. I need a break." I passed my stick to Nick and went for a refill. I saw I had a text from Grant.

 _Grant: Bex is really hot right now. She's trying to beat me at bowling._

I had to laugh: She'll never beat you.

 _Grant: Maybe I should let her win. Could work out for both of us ;)_

"Are you sure she isn't crushing on anyone?"

"Nope. She's still getting over a relationship." He looked over my shoulder and then back at me.

"Well I think you have a shot when she is over it."

I huffed in annoyance. "Drew, we are just friends."

"Alright. Whatever you say. Looks like your 'just friend' is looking a little lonely. But she won't be for long if any of the other guys see her." I scanned the bar and already saw a few guys looking in her direction. I grabbed my drink and occupied the seat beside her. She was texting and I had a feeling I knew who it was.

"Is that Bex?" She put her phone down on the table and turned her attention to me.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Grant just texted me. He says Bex is hot when she's competitive." She gave a half laugh.

"Well then he's in luck. Bex is always competitive."

"I'll let him know." She looked back at the table and then to where the game was being played. She started messing with the ends of her hair. Was she as aware of how quiet it was? It was going to drive me insane.

"Soooooo Red Sox fan, huh." I had to know if she was a real fan or not. But the way she straightened up and smiled already told me she was.

"Born and raised." I approved, but I knew someone wouldn't.

"Don't let Grant see that jersey. He's die hard Yankees fan. We had to make him sit in another room when we watched the game at Blackthorne." The lines were drawn clearly at Blackthorne. You were either a Red Sox fan or you were wrong. But nothing was worse than being a Yankees fan. They were excommunicated during the big games.

"Are you a Sox fan?" She slightly bit the corner of her mouth and her eyes looked hopeful.

"Yeah. I used to go to some games as a kid." The dark memory crossed my mind, but those games were the happy spot in the dark days. "I had the best time of my life at those games."

"I know what you mean. One time I went with my dad and we ate so much popcorn and cotton candy. He almost dropped me reaching for a foul ball." She was more animated then and just filled with joy.

"Sounds like a good father." Her smile faltered.

"He was."

 _Was._ Was is never good. Was means something happened and it's not a conversation to have in a bar booth.

"Next time the Sox take on those damn Yankees you have to come over and watch it with us." She finally smiled again.

"Deal. Anything to torment a Yankees fan."

"So what's more exciting to watch? A no hitter or a homerun derby?"

"Well homerun derbies are fun and full of action. The motion and the power behind the hit! The outfielders try their hardest to stop it but they can't." She was full of life and I knew this was a thing she was passionate about. "But a no hitter has so much skill and precision. Every pitch, every inning leaving you thinking, are they or aren't they?" Are they or aren't they. I've never felt a feeling more in my life.

She looked embarrassed and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "I guess that doesn't really make sense." And that's when I knew someone, somewhere once told her that they didn't care about what she said. But I did.

"No I've never been able to put it into words. There's so much suspense for a no hitter, and it really shows in the fielders which ones are dedicated until the end."

"Exactly! They have confidence in their pitcher but if they get lazy then it's their ass on the line when they miss the ball." I had never known a girl that would know so much about sports. But the only girls I had known wore low cut shirts and acted helpless. It was a breath of fresh air talking with Cammie. And laughing with Cammie.

"Well homerun derbies are pretty skewed with the whole steroid outbreak." She threw her head back laughing and leaned forward. Her head touched my shoulder and she stopped. She blushed and scooted back a little more. When had we gotten so close? She sipped on her drink and just then my worst nightmare came walking by. Cady was strutting with confidence and I wasn't sure how I should act. Nothing happened between us but she was a determined girl. She was walking tall in her heels and winked at me. I guess I should acknowledge her presence so I gave her a little wave.

Cammie put her glass back down on the table with a little more force than necessary. She had a scowl on her face and her eyes were blazing.

"Really? That's your type?" What was it with people and their type?

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, "The tight dress and bleach blonde hair. If her dress was cut any lower her push up bra would be falling out." She followed Cady's trail and huffed.

I smirked and leaned in. "Gallagher Girl are you jealous?"

"Of Barbie? No." She crossed her arms and that action alone told me she was. Drew's words were coming back to me. Maybe she was ready to move on. And then I looked at her in a new light. She was technically my type, but not the way I expected. She didn't have baby blue eyes, but they were stormy or almost grey sometimes. And her hair wasn't bleach blonde, but it had a mix of so many shades of gold. I guess two weeks ago I had a slight vision of my type, but Cammie smashed all of those.

So I leaned in closer. "Just so you know Gallagher Girl. I like dirty blondes."

She looked so conflicted and I was too. We were just friends. But right now all I could think is, I really want to kiss her. She leaned in too and closed her eyes. Yeah, I really wanted to kiss her.

We were about a centimeter away and her phone buzzed loudly on the table. She jumped back and whatever trance as broken. She checked her phone and her shoulders slumped.

"Bex won." My smirk faltered. Whatever could have happened was interrupted by Bex's gloating.

"Grant probably let her win."

"Oh. Bex wouldn't let anyone just _let_ her win." She tried sounding nonchalant but there was a slight unevenness in her voice. That was the only way I could tell whatever happened, rattled her too. I had to get out before something else could happen. The air between us was intoxicating and I was already buzzed from it. Jonas was walking over and I knew I didn't want to stay around for that conversation.

"It's a win-win for both of them. I'm going to get back and play next game." He passed off the stick to me and took my place in the booth. My legs didn't want to walk to the table. If any of them had seen, I would never hear the end of it.

I took my spot at the table and Lucas poked me in the ribs.

"So your girlfriend found you, huh?" I sat speechless. But then Cady walked by and Lucas snickered.

"Is she going to come play with us?" Relief filled me and I exhaled.

"God I hope not."

We went back to playing in peace, but I kept sneaking glances over at Cammie and Jonas. She looked mildly uncomfortable and would shake her head. The next time Jonas was smiling but Cammie was blushing. I knew that I would be having a conversation very similar to this later on. I don't know if I was ready. What would I even say? Yes, I liked talking to Cammie. Yes, I have thought about kissing her on more than one occasion now. And yes, I do find her attractive. But does that mean I have to like her? We wouldn't date or anything.

I must have been distracted because Nick and Lucas were already cheering and Lucas flexed.

"Did you see that Cammie? I'm kicking ass." I cleared my head and tried to focus on the game. But I couldn't keep focused. I glanced back at Cammie and she was already staring. I sent her a smirk.

So I'm attracted to my friend. That doesn't mean anything.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Alright so yes I'm a horrible person that takes forever to update and I wish I could say it won't happen again but it definitely will. I'm sorry but I am only five weeks away from the end of school. Buttttt then my summer job starts. Anyway, right now I think I'm going to keep writing but it probably will be shorter than Dirty Laundry. Let me know what you think.**

 **P.S. If you haven't read "Not if I save you first" you should! It was so good with a few GG references in there. Also I'm meeting the goddess herself this Saturday so maybe that will inspire me.**

Chapter 11

It was getting later and later into the night and the alcohol was running its course. Nick was swaying and singing a Frank Sinatra song, David challenged a guy to an arm wrestling contest, and Lucas was, well, Lucas. Always cheerful and cracking jokes, but the jokes were getting dirtier and dirtier.

"Riddle me this. What gets whiter the dirtier it gets?"

"Easy. A chalkboard." Lucas was trying to fight a grin.

"Nope. Annie after Nick-"

I covered Lucas's mouth. "Alright, that's enough of the jokes tonight." Lucas pouted but everyone else looked relieved he didn't finish the punchline. It probably would've resulted in a punch from Nick.

"Are we going to get pizza tonight?"

"Yes!" Lucas's voice echoed in through the room and he was already marching toward the door.

"Hey slow down Luckey," Cammie giggled. Lucas stumbled to a stop at the worst possible place; the clingy girls spotted him. The brunette that he was chatting up trailed a finger down his arm. His face was one of pure panic. Cammie downed her drink and wobbled over and hung onto the arm the girl was touching.

"Lucas are we about to leave? I'm sooooo ready to go home."

I shared a look with the guys and Jonas shrugged.

"Oh… uhm yeah Cammie. Leaving right now." We took the hint and already were moving around them and out the door.

The air was a lot cooler outside now. We regrouped in a circle, but our circle was smaller.

"Where'd Lucas and Cammie go?" David looked around the circle and then back inside. In an instant he was running back in the door and as soon as the door opened, I knew why. There were cheers around a circle and I had a feeling what I would see in the middle.

I pushed my way inside the door and saw Lucas pulling on Cammie's arm and Cady on the ground. I relaxed a little. She was safe. She backed up and Lucas tried to clear through the crowd. I met him half way.

"What happened?" His eyes were wide.

"I don't know. I couldn't hear what happened-" He was cut off with a screech. I saw Cammie lunging back toward Cady and the rest. In a flash I moved and threw her over my shoulder. I saw Cady smirk at me and give a wave. I sneered and turned toward the door.

Cammie was kicking and twisted the whole time. I had to grip her waist tighter to keep her still, but she kept kicking.

"Gallagher Girl, stop. They're not worth it," I hissed in her ear. For a moment her kicks were less forceful and when the door opened she stopped completely. Once we were closer to our cars I dropped her down to the ground. She didn't look at any of us, she just stood with her arms wrapped around her.

"Cammie, are you okay?" David looked genuinely worried, and I'm sure I mirrored his emotions.

"I'm fine." Her voice was as cold as the breeze.

"What happened?" Nick asked.

She looked down at the ground and her voice was barely louder than a whisper, "I am not a slut."

I wanted to go inside and smack the girl myself. As far as I understood, calling another girl a slut was pretty high on the insult totem pole.

"Of course you aren't Cammie."

"No one has ever called me that. I wasn't going to let her." She bit her lip and I saw her eyes were darker than usual as she glared at the door.

"Well," David sighed, "The bar owner saw what happened. He told the other girls they can't come back, but you have a weeks suspension."

"At least they can't come back," Lucas tried to force a smile. "And one week isn't too bad. I'll stay home with you during your house arrest."

"No, you don't have to." She cracked a small smile. "You guys can still go. I'll just catch up with you next week."

"No way! I got you into this mess, what kind of friend would I be if I let my little jail bird sit at home alone?"

"She doesn't have to stay home. She just can't come here." I started thinking about where else we could go, but Jonas beat me to it.

"It's simple guys, we just go to Grant's party next week."

David looked a little concerned. He wasn't really the frat party type. The only reason he sort of enjoyed the last one was because he had a role of looking after Nick. "I can handle that for a week." The mood started to lighten.

"Cammie, I don't know if your MMA performance will drive away or attract more guys." I forced an awkward laugh to join in with the others. I hope it would drive them away. Guys don't make passes at girls who kick asses, right?

"Did you see the way that girl toppled over? It was beautiful. You have to teach me that some day." They were starting to laugh and lighten the mood, but I noticed Cammie's smile didn't reach her eyes. She pulled her arms closer around her and looked around as the rest of them laughed.

"Alright, who's ready for pizza?" He led the charge toward the cars, but she lingered like she didn't register what he was saying.

"Not tonight." I looked at her and she was starting to shiver. "I think I'm going to head back." Nick stopped and looked at me like a puzzle.

"How are you going to get back?" I guess that's the downfall of carpooling.

"Can I drive your truck?" Nick gave a laugh but was already reaching in his pocket.

"You drive this truck more than I do." I grabbed the keys and saw Jonas looking at me.  
"Someone has to go back with Zach. My car only holds four."

"I'll go. I probably need to get home anyway." I kind of expected this. She had enough entertainment for the night.

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She hadn't said a word since she got in the truck.

"Hey Gallagher Girl?" She turned her attention from the window toward me. "Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath, "I'm fine." The words were right, but she didn't look fine. Not even a little.

"You're shaking." I reached into the backseat, looking for my jacket I abandoned at the beginning of the night. "Put this on."

She took it gingerly but didn't put it on. "No really, I'm fine."

She wasn't fine, but I could help the cold. "Cammie, it's forty five degrees outside and still dropping. And you're wearing shorts and a short sleeve. Put it on." She obliged and the shaking stopped.

When I opened her door to help her get out, she hesitated but eventually took my hand, if only for a second. She kept her hands in my jacket pockets and her eyes down to the ground. She was quiet the whole way and when I turned to check on her when we got inside, I saw why. Tears were trailing down her cheeks.

"Gallagher Girl?" She tried wiping the tear away but she missed. I wiped it away with my thumb and she looked so broken. I pulled away and crossed my arms, giving her a little space.

"She was right." Her voice cracked and a tear streamed back down.

"Cammie, no."

"She was Zach. My dad wouldn't have wanted me to fight. He would have-"

"Been proud that you stood up for yourself." My voice was strong and her tear fell. I reached forward to wipe it but she pulled back and wiped it with my jacket sleeve.

"Gallagher Girl, I'm just trying to save my sweatshirt from your tears." She was starting to pull it off and I shook my head. "No, I don't need it." It may have been really my only favorite sweatshirt, but she needed it more. And honestly it looked good on her. "You can keep it for now."

She wrapped back up and hid her hands inside the sleeves.

"He would be proud of you. I mean that was one hell of a push. That girl toppled over." She cracked a smile and laughed a little. I would be lying if seeing Cady falling over because of Cammie wasn't a little hot.

"Well, she said some pretty nasty things." From what Cammie said, Cady wasn't the one to call her a slut, but she was the one to get pushed.

"What did she say?"

"She was angry that I was friends with you. She has some type of claim or something." That was insane. I talked to her once and she thought we were together. If she knew my story, I don't think she would claim me. No one ever did. I would always be the kid that was better off on his own.

"Trust me, Gallagher Girl. No one has a claim over me."

Cammie was moving closer slowly and damn, I really wanted to kiss her. I wanted to kiss her in the booth and I knew nothing would stop us. Except my own damn mind. If she only knew my story she probably wouldn't want to be with me either. This isn't a good idea. Not now.

I stepped back down the hallway. "Good night Gallagher Girl."

The whole walk back upstairs was torture.

 _I'm an idiot. I could have kissed her._

Every step made me want to turn back around. But my feet were already through the door and reason started taking over.

 _She doesn't know you. She's just your friend. She's in a dark place right now and you were just the one to help her._

The thoughts circled in my head the whole time, but when my head hit the pillow one more mocked me.

 _She wasn't in a dark place in the booth._

That little thought of hope made me think, maybe someday.

0000000000000000

"Get up. Both of you." It felt much to early for a pillow to hit my face. I was an early riser, but this was too early for a Sunday.

I picked my head up and Grant was looking mystified with me. Jonas had a serious look on his face so I didn't question why he wanted us to get up.

"What's up Jo boy?"

"We need to have a little chat." I looked over at Grant and he was staring back at me.

"Both of us?" We both asked at the same time.

"It would be best if it were." Grant cracked a smile.

"What's wrong Jonas? Do you have four months to live?" He gave a half laugh.

"Just get dressed. We're going to get some breakfast and chat."

It was a quiet ride to our favorite little café. Jonas didn't hint at what this chat would be about, and my mind was rolling over and over. I knew he saw Cammie and me and he already talked to her. This could be the time for the chat, but why would Grant come along?

"So are you going to tell us what this is about?"

Jonas put down his coffee cup, "Gentleman, I fear something is going to be happening to us soon."

"What do you mean something is happening to us?" His eyes flicked to me, but focused back on Grant.

"Let's start with you first, Grant." He sighed, "I'm not sure how long we can keep staying friends." It was so blunt that both of us sat shocked.

"Wh-what? Why not?"

"It's nothing against you. You're still my best friend and I hope to keep it that way. But the current trend has been hanging out with only Bex. I've never really met her, but she seems like a nice girl and I'm happy for you, but sad for myself." Grant sat scratching his neck.

"I don't know what to say. I don't mean to ditch you guys, but I just want to get to know her better before introducing her to all of you." Jonas just leaned on his elbows and nodded his head. He looked like a therapist who was about to ask, 'And how do you feel about that'. But Jonas still had the mind of a scientist and he would find a solution to our problem.

He cracked a smile, "That's understandable. It would be insane to bring a girl you just met to our group." They both laughed and smiled at each other.

"I promise to make some time just for us guys again." Jonas didn't respond, he just went back to nodding like he understood but wasn't sure of the promise.

"So are we okay to keep staying friends?"

Jonas pursed his lips, "Well I'll have to think about that."

Grant's eyes went wide like he just saw someone hit his puppy but Jonas laughed.

"I'm kidding. You will always be my best friend. And I would like to meet Bex whenever you're ready." Grant smiled and I clapped.

"Well that was beautiful. We saved a friendship." I smirked at them but Jonas studied me.

"Well our friendship is saved. I'm not sure how yours will be with some people."

I fiddled with my thumbs, "Alright, let's get this over with."

"You know what this is about?"

I took a deep breath. "Is it about Cammie?" He nodded and Grant was the one looking wide eyed now.

"Woah, I thought you said you didn't like her."

"Look it's not like that." I ran a hand through my hair, already dreading this conversation.

"Why does Jonas feel the need to wake us up early to talk about it then?" He turned to Jonas. "What happened?"

"I just saw the two of them looking rather cozy in the booth."  
"It wasn't like that," I exclaimed again.

"Okay, then why don't you tell us what it was like. All I got from Cammie was, 'nothing was going to happen' and 'I didn't know we were that close'. So I want to hear from you what you thought was going to happen." She said nothing was going to happen. Was anything going to happen? If her phone never buzzed I'm pretty sure I would've kissed her.

"We were talking and getting along really well. I guess gradually we moved closer together. I didn't even know it until she laughed and her head was on my shoulder." I took a deep breath, "And I guess we were close to kissing."

"So you do like her?"

"I don't know. I like talking to her, but we are just friends." Jonas nodded a little.

"That's what she said too." I knew she would just want to be friends. That further cements her 'just friend' status and I have to protect that.

"Why didn't you kiss her?" Grant sounded genuinely confused.

"Because Bex texted her." I gave a half laugh but Grant wasn't laughing along.

"Is that the only reason?"

"We were caught up in the moment and I wasn't thinking. I won't let it happen again."

"And why not?" I wasn't really expecting Jonas's response. I thought this whole chat was to further confirm that I wasn't going to date Cammie.

"It's hard to explain. She's not looking for anything and I'm not going to do anything to make something happen." They both shared a look.

"Alright, one last question and we can enjoy our breakfast in peace. Could you like Cammie?" I knew what my answer should be, but that moment last night muddied the waters. He didn't say if I was, he asked if I could.

"She's my friend that I am attracted to. I guess I could." Grant had a sly smile and Jonas just nodded, filing away my response for a later date.

"Alright, then one last thing needs to happen. You have to make sure Lucas doesn't feel the same way."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! So I'm kind of sick and decided to make use of that time alone. Thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter! I hope you like this one as much as I do!**

Chapter 12

I didn't rush off to ask Lucas about his feelings, in case you were wondering. But I also didn't completely avoid him. He was still my roommate after all, but I didn't see a need to bring up a subject that might lead to roommates taking sides. David and Nick already had their sides and after that we said we didn't like her. And so far Lucas has kept his word. There wasn't a sign that he was secretly pining for Cammie or imagining what her lips would taste like, not that I was. Okay, maybe a few times.

Jonas still thought I should talk to him but believe it or not saying, 'hey remember how I said I didn't like Cammie and you did too? Well I do like her and I need to make sure you don't or I'm going to punch you in the face' over a cup of coffee doesn't sound ideal. If he showed some type of sign that he liked her, then maybe I would talk to him. But all of this was pointless because Cammie doesn't want either of us, so I should just give up.

So my thought process wasn't exactly healthy or encouraging. My thoughts were usually what you would call self destructive. In my psychology class they always advertise this as a bad thing; but I knew if I thought positively about the whole situation it would blow up in my face.

Grant didn't agree of course. He was expecting me to come right home from breakfast and have an instant heart to heart, preferably over ice cream. But I wasn't going to be bringing out the Cookie dough or Mint Chip just yet. I gave myself a timeline of sorts. By the end of tonight, I was going to decide hopefully once and for all if I liked Cammie. And if Lucas was flirting I would talk to him tomorrow.

Maybe that's why I was feeling a little more nervous when we arrived at the party. After playing the first game of pool, which I botched completely, Lucas was already looking around.

"Where's Cammie at? Grant disappeared to find Bex so she should be here." He looked like he really wanted to see her and that made my mouth go dry.

"I don't know. I'm going to get something to drink. Anyone want anything?" There was a lot of shaking heads and mumbled 'no's', which was for the best. I didn't want to rush to get back if Lucas was already talking about Cammie.

It was a crowded party. There seemed to be people everywhere I turned, which made it difficult to move through the crowd without spilling my drink. I almost spilled it right on this girl's head when I bumped into her. She didn't notice. Her attention was on the pong table in the center. And just that quickly mine was too.

"I'll play by myself." The boy with the sandy brown hair looked defiant but the girl across the table crossed her arms. Just by the look on her face, she was used to getting her way.

"You can't. This is a team sport, so find a partner or take a hike." Maybe it was her tone or the sight of a very familiar girl next to her, but I stepped up.

"I'll play." Cammie's lips turned into a hard thin line.

"Zach…" Her voice was dark and low but the girl next to her looked like a kid in a candy shop. The guy patted my shoulder and held his hand out to me.

"How you doing? I'm Preston Winters." And now I knew why the guy looked so defiant. I mean who wouldn't be when their father was a very (un)popular governor.

"Zach. Nice meeting you."

"Alright," the girl clapped her hands, commanding attention, "what are your terms?"

Terms? Someone yelled out a large sum of cash but our two partners waved it away like that was pocket change. I didn't know the stakes would be this high. The most we ever did was decide who was paying for pizza. I wasn't sure what to expect here, this was a whole new ballpark.

I'm lucky Preston seemed at home at the table. "If we win, we have dinner next Friday." I tried to analyze how the girl reacted. It was obvious Preston could like her, but she was staying closed off.

Cammie laughed. "I'm sure you and Zach would have a lovely time at dinner together. Make sure you save room for dessert." I bit back a laugh. She was quick witted and Preston was caught off guard.

"Uh sorry man. This one was for me. Is there anything you want?"

There were multiple things I wanted and most of them were standing across the table.

I made direct eye contact with her, "I'll let you know if we win." Even in the dim light I saw a blush cross her cheeks.

"And what are your terms?" The dark haired girl put a finger to her lips and pretended to think. I had a feeling things were going exactly the way she wanted.

"Hmmmm what else could I get out of Preston Winters?" She took a moment before whispering to Cammie.

"Ok if we win, you have to spend one week with my mother to organize the Thanksgiving Gala." Preston actually looked scared, but he put a lopsided smile on his face.

"McHenry, are you trying to get me to meet your parents?" Realization dawned on me. This was Macey McHenry. Cammie said she lived with Macey but she never mentioned her last name.

"After a week with my mother, you won't want anything to do with my family," she huffed. Preston weighed the terms and the benefits if we won.

"Deal." Preston took the ball and handed it to me.

"Uhm, so I've actually never played before." He gave a half laugh.

"Well now is a great time to learn. You don't have anything to lose." That was comforting. I would just have to learn on the fly. It didn't seem too hard. I picked up the ball and saw the stack of cups. I just had to get it in.

I heard the splash and Cammie looked pissed. I smirked at her.

"Drink up, Gallagher Girl"

She glared and downed her cup. I shot again and it bounced off the rim.

"Don't worry man. It happens to the best of us." Macey McHenry flicked the ball in the most proper way one can. And it sank right into the cup, no rim at all.

We both stared at the cup and I started reaching but Preston's hand was there first.

"How about I drink for us? It's a lot harder to be accurate when you've been drinking." Relief spread through my chest. I was always paranoid of drinking, partly from bad family experiences, and partly from coach telling us not to be stupid. I had already heard the horror stories of athletes that were caught drinking and were promptly kicked off the team. Some of the seniors tried giving us tips of how to hide it, but I would rather steer clear from the whole thing.

Of course Preston didn't know this, he was just concerned about having to spend a week with Mrs. McHenry. So I smiled at him.

"Thanks man. I'll try to win you that date."

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I had made good on my word. We had one cup left and Preston picked up the ball.

"Make sure to dress nice Mace." He winked at her and let the ball fly.

She had the courtesy to look annoyed when the ball landed. Cammie looked like she got punched in the stomach. Macey knew what she was getting herself into, Cammie had a big question mark on what I would make her do. Of course I did too. I didn't expect to win.

Preston leaned on the table, "So, do you want to play again?"

"Sure, but we need a change of teams." Cammie looked at her in disbelief. She looked like she was joking but Macey's smirk at me was no joking matter.

Seconds later she was on our side of the table and pushing me out of my spot. I took the hint and occupied Macey's vacant spot next to Cammie.

"Much better." Well I agree the company is pretty nice but from what I had seen all the experience was on the other side of the table.

"Alright Macey, what do you have in mind?" Cammie might as well have said, 'what would we have to do' because there's no way we could win this.

"Losers have to make out for five minutes." Oh. That.

I tried not to make eye contact with Cammie and she seemed content looking away from me. I don't know how I would have felt if we did lose, which was pretty probable. Just a week ago I had been thinking about kissing her, and now I would get the chance. But that still doesn't tell me how she would feel about it.

"What is this? High school?" Judging from the tone of her voice, she wasn't adamantly opposing the game, but she wasn't excited about it either.

"I don't remember you complaining in high school." Cammie's face was red as a tomato.

"Fine but if anyone looks like they are trying to lose," Preston was fighting back a smile, "then they have to streak through the quad." Macey looked a little nervous at that, but they still shook on it.

If there was any doubt that we were outmatched, it went away with Preston's first shot. Even after drinking most of our cups, he was steady and it sank right in.

I picked up the cup and saw one of my teammates in the crowd. He was giving me a slight shake of the head, but I didn't know what else to do.

"I can drink for you if you want."

"I can do it," I whispered to Cammie, but she shrugged.

"I know you can. But I also know that you're always a driver." Her eyes lifted at the corners, "Consider it payment for your last win."

I leaned right next to her ear, "Well that's not as fun as what I had in mind. But if you insist." I held the cup in front of her, teasing her. She reached for the cup and when our fingers touched she jerked the cup away. She downed the cup and steadied herself. She had a fairly high tolerance, but we were only one cup down nine to go.

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We were still two cups behind and Cammie was close to falling over herself.

"Alright Cammie, your turn." She was completely leaned into my shoulder and still looked wobbly. She closed her eyes and flicked her wrist. By some miracle the ball went into the cup.

I lightly nudged her back to both feet on the ground.

"Alright Gallagher Girl, we're still one cup behind. Just do what you just did."

She tried to turn but completely lost her balance. I slipped my arms around her waist to keep her upright, but the alcohol was still taking its toll. Her eyes didn't waver from me.

"I don't think I could if I tried." I squared her shoulders back to the table. She narrowed her eyes and I would like to say she aced it, but the shot was comically bad. It barely hit the side of the table and Macey cackled on the other side. Even I cracked a smile and I wanted us to win. I think.

"Really Gallagher Girl, if you wanted to make out you just need to ask. No point in throwing the game." She turned beet red and gripped the edge of the table, making sure not to brush against me.

There was just one cup left. Preston had the ball and after 17 cups he was barely swaying. The only hint that he was feeling the effects was the way his eyes kept closing for longer periods of time. Maybe he was trying to do what Cammie did, but he missed by just an inch. That kept us in the game.

I grabbed the ball and saw the two that we needed to make. I had to make this or it would be over for sure. And then I would be kissing Cammie. Cammie that was looking sexy as hell tonight. Cammie who I already admitted I could really like her, if I got to know her. Cammie who should be off limits right now.

I took a deep breath trying to clear my head and made the cup to catch up.

"One cup left Zach. You can do it."

I really could win this game for us in the next shot. Just one cup and we win. Did I want to win?

My arm felt like jelly. It didn't want to work anymore, but I needed it to work. I forced it to shoot. It reached the cup, but with a little too much force. I saw it circle around the rim a few times before flying back out.

"Really Blackthorne Boy, if you wanted to make out you just needed to ask." She tried to laugh and the effort was too much. She stumbled right into my chest and leaned back on the table. I put my arms on either side of her to make sure she didn't fall over completely.

"Is that so?" I smirked at her and she leaned up from the table. I was vaguely aware that we were still in the middle of a crowded party and shouldn't be flirting with her. I pulled my hand away and felt it brush against the gap between her shirt and jeans. It was warm and I wanted to keep it there.

"Hey lovebirds. Game's not over yet." Macey cocked a hip and shook the ball at us. I nudged Cammie's hip to keep her head in the game.

Macey had a smirk on her face as she looked at the cup. She was a skilled player and I was pretty sure we were doomed. Just as thoughts of kissing entered my mind, Macey's ball soared over the cup. I couldn't believe it, we were still in the game. I looked at the last cup. It should be an easy shot but Cammie had to make it. She could barely keep her balance and now she had to make the game winning shot.

I saw her looking up to me and gave her a smile. She could do it. I know she could.

She covered her eyes with her other hand and in one swift motion the ball went sailing through the air into the cup. We all stared at the cup in disbelief for a second. Neither of us could believe she actually made it and there was a bet on the line. Macey grabbed Preston's face and smashed her lips onto his. A flash of red rolled up his neck. She took his hand and pulled him away and he was still staring at the cup on the table. That's right buddy, that little cup earned you all of that.

I smiled at the two until I heard a small, "Umm Zach."

I turned to smile at Cammie and she tried to smile but quickly her face dropped. I had seen that look before. She was going to be sick. I grabbed her hand and weaved through the crowd. No one would want to get sick in a crowded party.

The cooler air hit me like a wall. It was a stark contrast from the crowded party. I glanced at Cammie and she wiped a tear away from her cheek. That couldn't be good.

"I'm fine Zach. Just don't feel very good." She wrapped her other arm around her stomach tightly.

"I shouldn't have let you drink that much." I pulled her to where Nick's truck was parked.

"How are the other's getting home?" Oh right. The others. I dropped her hand and opened the door.

"Don't worry about them. They will find a way." I shut the door before she could protest. I would have to text them and tell them what happened. Well the sparknotes version of it anyway.

"Do you have a car?" I was caught off guard by the question and gave a laugh.

"No." I saw her physically slump in her seat. "I have a motorcycle." And just that quickly she perked up. If it weren't for her leaning, I would have thought she was faking being sick.

"Why don't you ever take that?" I already felt the wind whipping against my face. The feel of the sun and all the sounds. It really was a great ride when I was alone.

"Because that would only fit me and one other person. And I don't really want Lucas wrapping his arms around me." She let out a giggle and my stomach flipped a little.

"I've never been on a motorcycle." I've heard that from girls before. Every time they heard I had a motorcycle they wanted a ride. Of course I never gave them one, but things were different.

"Maybe I'll take you for a ride." Her head listed to the side, "When you're not about to puke." She nodded slightly and folded her knees into her chest. Every now and then she would let out a shuddered breath and I prayed we wouldn't hit any red lights.

I started feeling hopeful once we got to the parking lot and I spotted parking spots. I sped over to them before another car could magically appear. I hit the first speed bump pretty hard and Cammie scrambled to open the window. After the second one I stopped and she gagged. She crumpled into the front seat and curled up again.

"Three more, Cammie. Do you think you can do it?" She nodded from the top of her knees and I crept forward as slowly as I could. After the first bump I swerved the truck over so only my side would go over the bump. Cammie was still curled into a ball with her eyes clenched shut. I kept my eye on her until we parked. She didn't even realize that we were parked.

I opened her door and scooped her up in my arms. She unfolded herself a little and tried to focus on my eyes. "I can walk." She rested her head on my chest and closed her eyes.

"I know you can." I kept her in my arms until we reached the first door. I wouldn't be able to get my keys from my pocket while holding her. I slowly set her feet on the ground and looked for my keys. She couldn't support herself so I kept one arm around her while I unlocked the door. She did all she could to stay upright, but she couldn't do it on her own.

"You still think you can walk?" I tried not to smirk but it was hard. When some one as stubborn as she had to admit she was wrong, it was just icing on the cake. She pursed her lips and shook her head.

"Alright hop on my back. I'll never be able to open the door without hands."

She hesitated before flopping onto my back. Not her most graceful moment, but I was just happy that she attempted to hold on.

We were half way down the hallway when she buried her nose on my neck. I fought the urge to shiver.

"You okay?" She nodded and tightened her grip around my neck. I walked a little further before stopping in front of her door.

"Have your keys?" Her arms unfolded from my neck and I put her down next to the wall, which she leaned on completely. She held her keys in her hand and I took them from her. Her eyes flashed in annoyance.

"I can do it." I highly doubted she could, considering she was already a few inches shorter from sliding down the wall, but I held them out for her.

"Okay, here you go." I placed them in her hand and she pushed off the wall and onto the door. Her hand looked shaky and every attempt to find the lock was all over the place. I folded my arms and tried not to laugh but she was determined, until she dropped her keys on the ground. Even she looked at them defeated.

"As amusing as this is, I think you need to get inside." I scooped the keys from the floor and unlocked the door quickly. She huffed and walked through the door, swaying the whole way through the living room. I trailed behind her in case she needed help. She started wobbling a little and kicking a foot before dropping to the ground. I kneeled and put a hand on her shoulder to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Gallagher Girl?" She kept unlacing a shoe and threw it down the hallway at a door and in a struggled motion she was out of her jacket.

"It's so hot." I guess I was thankful she was just throwing shoes and they weren't directed at me, but I was still worried. She tried pushing up so I grabbed her elbow lightly to walk her to her room. She picked up a pair of shorts and started unzipping. I turned around to give her some privacy. She was muttering and cursing before I heard her sigh.

"Zach." Her voice was so soft, I barely heard it. She held her shorts towards me, "Help."

I stayed by the door, "You don't want me to do that."

She crossed her arms, "I can't do it!" Her head hung down, "I can't do anything." I heard a crack in her voice and her eyes were glistening. I didn't want to do this. It was dangerous ground, but she looked like she was about to cry. And drunk crying was not pretty.

I kneeled in front of her and started unlacing her shoe. It was just a shoe, no big deal. I was kind of hoping once I got her other shoe off she would say she could do it, but that didn't happen. She lifted her arms up so I could get to her waist. I didn't focus on the skin that was showing and I didn't try to touch it. My knuckle grazed across her stomach and she shivered. I tried not to think of the affect one graze had on her.

"Lift up." I slowly rolled her jeans down her thighs.

"Guess you get to see my underwear afterall." Was she flirting with me? At a time like this she was flirting, but I tried not to think about what that meant. She wasn't in the right mind. She didn't know what she was saying.

Her shorts were easy to slip on and she laid back on her bed relieved. Her eyes were closing so I took that as my cue to leave.

"Anything else you need?" She shot back up and I was sure she was about to throw up, but she was steady.

"Zach."

"Yeah, Gallagher Girl?" She swallowed hard and bit her lip.

"Stay." My heart leaped in my chest.

"I will." She smiled and scooted over on her bed.

"Gallagher Girl." My voice was cautious and her shoulders slumped. God how I wanted to crawl up next to her. But nothing good would come from that. "I'll just be out here if you need me." She fell back on her bed and put the pillow over her face.

Through the muffle of her pillow I heard a small, 'but I need you now'.

I hesitated outside of the door, waiting for any other sign, but all I heard was steady breathing.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Happy Birthday Abby! You really convinced me and us May babies have to stick together! Unfortunately it's only the one but that's better than nothing. Sorry guys, it's been a crazy time with strep throat, testing and then trying to plan for some trips. I should start to have more free time to write after school's out. Please be patient!**

Chapter 13

My eyes shot open when I heard the screams. I was instantly transported to a time ten years earlier. After the night that I didn't wake up I didn't think I would ever sleep again. I had gotten lazy in the past ten years when I didn't have to worry, and the way my heart was racing I didn't think I ever would again. I hopped off the couch and ran down the hallway, throwing open the door.

"Gallagher Girl?" She jumped and buried her face into her knees. The sight of her crumpled and broken knocked the wind out of me. My feet were on auto pilot as they drew closer to her. I was terrified. I never had the nerve to approach my mother when she was broken and I really didn't know what to do. I reached out to her hand and took it in mine. She didn't pull away.

"Cammie." She was sobbing uncontrollably. Her whole body was shaking and she rocked back and forth.

"I couldn't stop it." Her voice was so quiet and broken. She let out a shuddered breath and kept sobbing. I was next to her then, rubbing circles on her back but she didn't stop.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up over her knees, "I couldn't save him. My dad needed me and I wasn't fast enough." She curled back up in a ball and instinct told me to wrap my arms around her. I pulled her head to my chest and she gripped my shirt and continued to cry. This was an entirely new feeling of helplessness.

Her breathing settled down and I lifted her head to look her in the eyes. "It's not your fault." I knew she wouldn't believe it but I had to say it. I never believed it either.

"If I was faster I could've gotten help. He could have had more time." She was still putting so much blame on herself and that type of thing could eat away at a person.

"Cammie, stop. It's not your fault and he wouldn't want you to blame yourself." She didn't say anything. I didn't expect her to. Your opinion about that type of thing won't just change in an instant, but maybe just maybe this is the first time she has heard it.

"Did I wake you up?" I looked away. I didn't want her to see the worry in my eyes.

"Uh no. I was still awake." She gave a half laugh and her hand was smoothing my hair.

"Yeah sure. That looks like a face that was wide awake."

"Maybe this is how I always look." She smiled and started to relax again.

"It is not. Your eyes are lighter when you're tired. And your smirk is more of a smile." My stomach was jumping around. Thank god it was dark so she couldn't see any signs of a blush.

"Have you been studying my face?"

"No!" She bit her lip and fiddled with the ends of her hair. "I just notice things."

"And what have you noticed?" It was a dangerous question and one that would probably make me spill my guts about what I noticed about her. There are too many things that should go unsaid and this one late night might spill them all.

She looked nervous and my stomach was already dropping. She couldn't even look at me.

"You're always there for me." It was a soft whisper but I heard it clear as day. I had never heard such a high praise and I wanted to cry, I wanted to kiss her, but mostly I wanted to pull her close and never let her go. And I couldn't do any of those things so I hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head.

"Where is Bex at?" She paused and looked around the room, "And Macey?"

"You really think Macey is coming home tonight? You saw the way she kissed Preston. I don't think she's coming home anytime soon." There was no way she accidently lost, she just had to wait for us to win. And we were close to losing it all. And maybe things would have been different.

Cammie must have sensed my thoughts because she tensed up and moved away.

"I'm going to text Bex." Her hands were shaking when she grabbed her phone. I thought about what I wanted to ask; was she happy we lost? Why did she want me to stay?

"Did the guys find a way home?"

"Yeah. David found one of his teammates and they're out at Piehaven now."

She looked at her phone and smiled, "And they're with Bex and Grant."

Of course they were.

"Must be getting serious. Already meeting the friends."

"Well I met them before she did." She smirked and nudged my shoulder.

"Well you aren't dating Grant, so it doesn't count." I bumped her shoulder back.

She gasped and held her hand to her chest. "Are you saying that my meeting his friends didn't mean anything?"

"In terms of Grant and Bex, nothing." She had the small crinkle between her eyebrows just like when I first met her. She was thinking hard and a little disappointed. If I had known how different she would be I never would have left that laundry room.

So much had changed since then so I looked her squarely in the eyes and bared my soul, "In terms of Grant's bestfriend, it means everything." Her eyes flashed and a smile was spreading across her face but she wasn't leaning in or readily saying she felt the same. For a second I regretted saying anything at all, but when I looked at her again her eyes weren't puffy, her lips weren't pouting, she just looked mystified. I had done my job and it was time for me to leave before I made it any worse.

"I should probably head up. Anything else you need?"

She was still in a daze when the light hit her but then she smirked, "Maybe some clean laundry tomorrow." I laughed and hung my head.

"Come on Gallagher Girl. Don't you think I've worked off my debt?" She smiled and was off the bed and moving toward me.

"We had a deal for four. So you still owe me three."

"Come on Gallagher Girl. I could have used my winning beer pong bet for something else." I unconsciously looked at her lips and I saw the corners turn up a centimeter, nothing more. But there was still a bargain to ensue, "Lets make it one."

"Two," she crossed her arms defiant.

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

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I didn't really sleep. Well at least I don't think I did. Everytime I closed my eyes my mind started thinking what could have happened.

What if she never made that shot?

What if I didn't stay?

What if I would have waited for her response after bearing my soul to her?

What if I never left?

That thought alone made me want to run back downstairs and bang on her door. But Bex would be there and I don't know how I would explain to her that I needed her roommate alone. So I stayed put.

At least until the next morning when I thought it was acceptable to go down there for laundry. I was a little nervous when I got to the door. I remember every part of last night but I couldn't be sure that she did.

I reached up and shakily knocked. I heard someone behind the door messing with the lock and I slapped on a cocky grin, only for it to fall when I saw a semi-familiar cocky grin.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" She smirked and I was internally groaning, but I composed myself.

"What's up McHenry? I see you made it home afterall."

She leaned against the doorframe, "And I see you made it back to my bestfriend's door."

I peered over her shoulder, "And where would your bestfriend be?" She gave a chuckle and pushed open the door.

"Come in. She's in the shower but you can wait for her."

I plopped down on the couch and the silence was sinking in. It was clear that Macey was having a bit of a rough morning but it wasn't a bad one.

"So how did you enjoy the party?" She had a sly smile on her face and I was now regretting talking at all.

"Oh it was just divine. Wasn't really planning on the ending but I can't say it was awful." I tried not to roll my eyes. There was no way she didn't plan on throwing the game.

"I was still surprised that we won."

"Especially since you were two rookies."

"Was Cammie really a rookie? I mean she did make some incredible shots." She cracked and shook her head smiling.

"I couldn't believe she made that shot either."

"Yeah, then you would have had to hope Preston missed." She was caught in her lie and now she had to live up to it. But she wasn't the daughter of a politician for nothing. She just smirked back at me and crossed her arms.

"I'm sure you would've been hoping he made it."

"I could've thrown the game if I wanted to, just like you did."

"Are you saying you didn't want to makeout with Cam?"

I opened my mouth but I had no idea what would have come out. Do I confess to her that yes I do, but that would definitely get back to Cammie.

Luckily I didn't have to say anything because a soft, "ummm" came from the end of the hallway. I was taken aback for a split second because Cammie was standing in a towel at the end of the hallway.

"Oh good. Cammie, your slave is here to do laundry."

"Come on Gallagher Girl, there's plenty of washers open right now, but we have to go fast."

"Yeah, let me change." She quickly scooted into her room and I took that last moment to take in the sight of Cammie in a towel.

After the door closed Macey had an eyebrow cocked in her direction.

"You're saying you wouldn't want to make out with," She gestured to Cammie's door, "that?"

"Not because of a stupid game." She bit back a smile, satisfied with her interrogation.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Yes I know it's been a while. I had a long vacation and came back to a broken screen on my laptop. I finally got the screen to light up but it is still cracked. I'll have to take it to get it fixed and then no laptop for a while. So I know it's short but I had to finish it while I still had the chance. And this is a scene that is not in Dirty Laundry. Thanks for sticking with me!**

Chapter 14

"What do you think Zach? Zach?" I felt a slap on my back, "Zach!"

I scowled at the hand, "What?" Lucas was giving me a questioning look.

"Did you not hear anything we just said?" I had been stuck in my own world while we were walking back from the game.

"Sorry. I was… thinking of something." Lucas tried his best to hide his smile but David was much more overt.

"Yeah cut him some slack Lucas. He still has that one girl's laugh replaying in his head." I had been smiling like a doofas ever since leaving, but it faltered at the mention of the girl.

"Who? Tina?"

"Oh," David poked my arm, "She has a name." Now he was grinning like a doofas. "How do you know her?"

"I don't really. She's in my history class. She came up to me and just started laughing." Lucas now took up my other side and both were poking my arms.

"I bet she wants to create some history with you." I walked faster away from them.

"It's not like that. She was just trying to make her ex jealous, I think."

"Well did it work?" I thought about how she kept hitting my chest and looking over at Alex and Cammie. And the look on both of their faces.

"Oh yeah. It worked."

"So you're not smiling about Tina?"

"No. Why would I be smiling about Tina?" Lucas eyed me suspiciously.

"Well that smile on your face only comes from a girl. So there has to be a girl."

I held my breath. I was running out of time keeping it to myself.

"I think we all know who," Jonas mumbled in the back. He had been quiet this whole time but when he met my eyes I knew he had a plan. He gave me a smirk that said it all.

Lucas slowed his steps until he came to a complete halt. "Wait."

All the pieces were falling into place. I could hear it in his voice. My heart sped up and I winced. I couldn't even look at him; couldn't bear to see the betrayal.

"Hold on. What happened while I was playing?" Jonas grabbed David's arm and steered him towards the dorms.

"I'll fill you in." They walked away, leaving me alone with Lucas. I sat down on the rock outcrop while Lucas stayed frozen in front of me. The silence was pressing on us and it was starting to get uncomfortable.

"So you like Cammie." It wasn't a question, just a fact that had to be stated.

"I didn't want to. It just happened." He nodded his head and started pacing.

"I don't know what to say. I guess I should have seen it coming."

"I wouldn't have. I still don't." He stopped pacing in front of me.

"Okay, well how long have you thought you liked her?" I dropped my head.

"I don't know. I guess really since the first night at Chance's." He gave a half laugh and shook his head.

"I'm not going to do anything."

"And why the hell not?" His eyes were blazing and he was a little scary.

"I know we both said we wouldn't like her but it's changed. I know it has." He slowed down and sat next to me.

"Okay. Maybe there was a time when I thought I liked her, but it was nothing. This isn't about me anyway."

"This is about you and me. We both said we wouldn't let anything come between us and we both said we would just be friends. I fell down on that promise and I'm sorry. Just tell me if you still feel something and I will back away." He shook his head and laughed.

"Zach it doesn't matter what I think. You like her and I don't know what I want. Don't back off because you think I could like her."

My mind was just starting to settle down. It wasn't a full confirmation that he doesn't like her, but it was something. I didn't need to feel guilty anymore. I was free.

"So have you kissed her yet?"

"What? No!" Lucas laughed again.

"It was just a question." He smiled and patted my shoulder. "Just do me a favor. If you're going after her make sure you do it right."

"What do you mean?"

"Well first, tell her you like her. That will help clear some things up."

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My plans to tell Cammie I liked her had been derailed. I was going to say something on our run this morning, but she cancelled to study for a test.

I was okay with that, really. I mean who wants to tell a girl you like them when you're sweating and getting side cramps. So I planned to do something that night at Chance's. The guys devised multiple plans for me, not that I would actually do any of them, but I was ready. Or I would be if I weren't getting the cold shoulder.

I'd try to make small talk like, 'what test are you studying for' and get a one worded response without eye contact. I'd try to partner with her for pool but she clung to Bex and Lucas all night.

After watching her laugh with Lucas I had to get out of there. I sat down at the bar to get away from it and think where it all went wrong.

"Having some troubles?" Drew was wiping down glasses and watching the scene.

"A few."

"Troubles with your 'just friend' Cammie?" I cut a sharp stare at him.

"I think she's mad at me. She hasn't really talked to me all day."

"What did you do?"

"I have no idea. I thought we were good. I was going to tell her I liked her but now I don't think it's a good idea." He continued wiping down glasses. "That's it? No wise bartender advice?"

He smiled and put the towel down, "Truth or dare."

I cocked an eyebrow at him, "I'm not in the mood for games Drew."

He shook his head, "No I mean play truth or dare. You'll find out lots of secrets that way."

"Isn't that kind of high schoolish?"

"You asked for my advice and I gave it. Now take it or leave it." He filled me a glass of Dr. Pepper and walked away.

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It had only been ten minutes since I suggested we played truth or dare and three minutes of actually playing and I wanted to punch Drew. This was not a fun game. This would not get me answers. Especially when she would roll her eyes anytime my name was mentioned. But there I was, answering dare and Bex was glancing at Cammie before narrowing her eyes back at me.

"Okay, I dare you to go get that girl's number." There were only five girls, including Bex and Cammie in the bar and the other three were at least seniors in college, but I did pick dare.

The guys snickered but Lucas looked a little uneasy. Cammie's face was unreadable so I slid from the booth and walked across the bar to the group of girls.

They were already eyeing me suspiciously when I walked towards them. The air was a cool indifference as if I were just another nuisance to brush off. Which I was.

I flashed a grin, "Well how are you ladies-"

"Save it sparky." One of the girls examined her nails, not sparing me a glance.

"We know why you're here."

At that I smirked, "Oh really. And how would you know at all what I'm here for."

They exchanged glances and tried not to laugh. "Oh it's so obvious. Group of friends sitting in a circle. I think I saw one of them run around the bar flapping like a chicken. You're obviously on some dare and we will not be apart of it." My smirk faded.

"What if I told you the real reason this whole thing started? Would you help a guy out then?" I tilted my head and lowered my voice, "I'll give you a hint, it wasn't just an abundance of alcohol." They pursed their lips and the middle girl shrugged and patted the seat next to her.

"Alright sparky, lay it on us."

I took a deep breath. I had to tell the story, not just to complete some stupid dare. I had to tell someone and get an outsiders opinion.

"Well it all started in the laundry room… where maybe I'm falling in love with a girl."


End file.
